Joy, a Podcast. Hosted by Craig Ferguson - Weird Al

Episode Date: February 13, 2024

Meet "Weird Al” Yankovic , an American treasure and best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musicians. Al and Craig are good friends in real life and the conversation shows! Al recently picked up his very first Emmy for being one of the producers of WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story, which also won the award for Outstanding Television Movie at the Creative Arts ceremony. The movie also won an Emmy for its score, besides winning many other awards and nominations. It is a must watch! You can see it here: http://tinyurl.com/yms9tsdf. EnJOY! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Angie Martinez, and on my podcast, I like to talk to everyone from Hall of Fame athletes to iconic musicians about getting real on some of the complications and challenges of real life. I had the best dad, and I had the best memories and the greatest experience, and that's all I want for my kids as long as they can have that. Listen to Angie Martinez IRL on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. For 10 years, I've been obsessed with one of the most bizarre

and audacious cons in rock and roll history. We were all facing 20 years and all that good stuff. The lead singer tried to pull off an English accent and they went on the road as the zombies. These guys are not going to get away with it. The zombies are too popular. Listen to the true story of the fake zombies on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get emotional with me, Radhi Devlukia, in my new podcast, A Really Good Cry.

We're going to be talking with some of my best friends. I didn't know we were going to go there on this. People that I admire. When we say listen to your body, really tune in to what's going on. Authors of books that have changed my life. Now you're talking about sympathy, which is different than empathy, right? Never forget, it's okay to cry as long as you make it a really good one. Listen to A Really Good Cry with Radhi Devlukia on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Craig Ferguson. The name of this podcast is Joy. I talk to interesting people about what brings them happiness. Weird Al Yankovic. people about what brings them happiness. Weird Al Yankovic. If you don't love Weird Al Yankovic, I have one question for you. How long have you been in Al-Qaeda?

Here he is. I feel like, you know... I've done shows where half an hour in, like, is this the show? Are we doing the show? No, we are doing the show. It's all right. So, you know... I've done shows where, like, half an hour in, like, is this the show? Are we doing the show? Are we doing the show? No, we are doing the show. It's all right. So, you know, sit up straight. Okay.

Don't do anything stupid. Don't mention... I'll use my radio voice. Yeah, use your radio voice. Don't mention anything that will get you or me canceled. Or maybe you do. I think that it's now come full circle, and you have to say something that gets you canceled so that you

you're participating you don't get cancelled every decade so people wonder what's wrong with you well yeah you get cancelled i don't know if you if that actually is a thing that you get cancelled does anybody really get cancelled i mean yeah i think a couple of people got cancelled i mean but they were like really really bad they really were yeah yeah they're like they were like really, really bad people. Oh, they really were, yeah. Yeah, they were like jail cancelled. Yes, when you're jail cancelled. Yeah, jail cancelled. That's like the gold standard of cancelled. So listen to me and say nothing until I finish.

Okay, no, I'm listening. No, listen to me. It's lovely to see you. I haven't seen you since, oh my God, since maybe Scotland. Was it that long? Yeah, I guess it might have been. It might have been. Oh no, maybe I, you know what? I think I saw you, maybe I saw you in my house in LA. I was getting a tattoo and you came to have a look because you've never seen anyone get a tattoo. Not up close. Which I have to say, Al, as someone who has the rock and roll credentials you have,

you really, you're very, you're lacking a lot in tattoos. I'm not a big fan of needles, you're lacking a lot in tattoos. I'm not a big fan of needles. I just actually, like an hour ago, got my COVID booster and flu shot. So Bill Gates knows you're here then. Well, I don't know which one I got. I either got the one where Bill Gates is going to be controlling my mind,

or I got the one where my 5G phone is going to turn me into a zombie. So I'm not sure which one I got. I'd only just heard about that. The theory about that noise on your phone goes off and it triggers your COVID. Yeah. It turns you into a thing.

I like that as a theory. That's pretty cool. They think of all the cool stuff. It's so creative. Yeah. It's lovely. But I will say this. I got my COVID jabs in Scotland,

so I think it won't work on me. I think it, basically, if it goes off, I turn into a fat bastard or something. Once you cross the border, it all mangos off, I turn into Fat Bastard or something. Once you cross the border, all bets are off. Did you get COVID? I did, yeah. I was so very, very careful.

But we toured last year for six months. And I think I was the first one to get COVID. You got it and then you infected the whole band. Yeah, no. No, we all just took turns. Thankfully, nobody got, not more than one person in the band got COVID at the same time. we all just took turns. Thankfully, not more than one person in the band got COVID at the same time, but we all took turns.

Well, I think that that's very professional. It was. It's a very professional way to approach the band. I think we could all have learned from that. What do you call your band? Just the Weird Al Band? Yeah. I mean, I call them Jim, Steve, and John and Ruben.

I guess. But the collective noun for the band. Just the band? Yeah, Al's Band. You know, for a while, we were changing the name of the band every tour. Like back when Dirty We Stupid was the album, there was a stupid band. Right. You know, it was just like a theme for the album.

But we gave up on that. Look, I have a name for a band, and I think you can have it if you think it will work. For free? Yeah. Okay. You ready? Yes. Colon floss. Colon floss? Colon floss, yeah. What do you think? Is it too much? You know I'm gonna I'm gonna put that in my back pocket and Near? And stick a pen in it as well. And see what you did! And see what did. Now, listen, you've been on tour.

I was talking to Suzanne, your lovely lady wife, about this. You've been on tour a lot, like for the past 30 years. Continually, yeah. Pretty much, right? Well, a lot, a lot, yeah. Do you still love it? I do. You know, it's my favorite part of what I do.

I mean, I don't like being away from my loved ones. Well, you take them with you a lot of the time. And they do. Now that we're empty nesting, my wife. I mean, I don't like being away from my loved ones. Well, you take them with you a lot of the time. And they do. Now that we're empty nesting, my wife and I actually, my wife joined me on the entire last leg of the tour because we did Australia

and Europe and Hawaii and she thought, oh, that might be fun. So, she got to actually tour with me. So,

that was nice. That was nice. So, was your daughter in college? She is, yeah. She's on the East Coast. I can't believe that.

I'm so old. She used to be a baby. I know. And now she's in college't believe that. I'm so old. She used to be a baby. I know. And now she's in college. How's that work? Yeah, I've got one of them that used to be a baby and has finished college. Wow. And then the other one used to be a baby and is at school and is a teenager.

Ooh. That's pretty rough. You know, the teenager thing, what were you like as a teenager? Were you rebellious? Well, not as such. I mean, I was, you know, you've heard my song, White and Nerdy. That was me. I graduated high school when I was 16 as the valedictorian.

So I was one of those straight-A nerds that people like to beat up at recess. Wait, so you were bullied? A little. I mean, you know, I didn't literally get beat up all the time. I'm going totally Barbara Walters on you right time. I'm going totally Barbara Waters on you right now. I'm going to do it, Al. So it's like, no, Al, you were bullied. It's true.

It's a repressed memory. It's all coming back now. So you were bullied in that. Because we've talked about this. And it's about every single time I talk to you in a recording format, we talk about Eat It. Because it was my first exposure to Weird Al Yankovic. I was in a cab format we talk about eat it because it was my first exposure to weird alley was in a i was in a cab in new york i was very very affected by the narcotics that i had

fairly recently to the cab ride starting and i heard eat it and it was the cab driver i remember was egyptian and when when you have a banana, have a whole bunch, it doesn't matter what you've had for lunch, he had to pull over. We were both laughing so hard. And I don't think, he'd been taking some narcotics. I had certainly had a lot more narcotics.

But, you know, it was dangerous, Hal. People could have got hurt. You know, I don't hold myself liable for any of that. I had my record label sign a waiver that if anybody is sending traffic accidents. It's an interesting world you've carved for yourself, though, because it's not like who's the new Weird Al or who was the Weird Al before Weird Al. It's just Weird Al. I mean.

You know, for a while, I was getting pitched a bunch of teeth. There's a period of time where I literally had six different production companies say, we want you to host a show called Find a New Weird Al. No. You know, one of these reality shows. And I was like, why would I want to do that? I'm already and still and continue to be Weird Al. Why do we want a new Weird Al?

But that seems so strange to me because I feel that's rude. But was that like Simon Cowell? You can tell me. Was it Simon Cowell? It might have been. I don't know. He sounds to me like he would try and find America's new Weird Al. Right.

How did you get the name Weird Al? It was something that was kind of foisted on me in college. I think my freshman year in the dorms in college. Is it ironic because you're not weird? Well, no. I think they thought I was weird. You are a little weird. That's what I was going to say. It's come full circle. It's like drinking yourself sober. It's like, he's not weird. We'll call him weird, but you actually are weird. Oh yeah. I would be roaming around the halls of my dorm and people would say, oh, who's that? Oh, just weird Al. Weird Al. Yeah. And then I just

took it on as a radio name professionally. Now, I'm going to ask you something about this, because you strike me as someone who should have gone through a goth period, but I don't think did, did you? A goth period? Yeah, you should have been a goth, man. There's still time. Yeah, well, that's kind of where I was going with this. I feel like I didn't become a gothh either and we could do goth things together.

Okay. Like hang out and be in a bad mood. You had your punk phase. I had punk, yeah, but it's not the same. Yeah. You know, you don't know anything about it.

Shut up, Dad. I hate you. But what I'm saying is we could wear black lipstick and hang out. I would love that. And go to the, I just,

where we record this place is right next to the Museum of Death. Oh, I didn't even know about that. Yeah, it's a museum right nearby. And it's called the Museum of Death. Like a graveyard? No, I don't think so. I'm too scared to go in it.

I think they should rebrand graveyards as Museums of Death. Right. There's a road sign in a town that I drive into in Scotland sometimes, and it says retail park, and it points to the left, and cemetery, and it points to the right. And every time we drive by, Megan, who you know, my wife, always says, buying it, bought it. Buying it, bought it.

So listen, you leave school at 16, having been horribly bullied. Hell, let's go with that. Yeah, you weren't really, were you? This was in LA though, right? Yeah, yeah.

Linwood. Linwood Knights, woo, represent. No, Linwood, I don't even, I lived in LA for 20,

over 20 years. I've never even heard of Linwood. Linwood, I went to the same high school as Suge Knight and who else?

Mark. How's he doing? He never calls, he never writes. I'm worried sick about him. Yeah. Does he... Are you in the school

Hall of Fame? I didn't know schools had Halls of Fame. I didn't know either. If I was talking to Yvette Nicole Brown about it... This will annoy you

as much as it annoyed me. Yvette Nicole Brown went to the same school as Arsenio Hall. Mm-hmm. And their school has a Hall of Fame. And they have a hall which, you know, like the gym, like the gymnasium is a hall.

And they named the hall. Now, remember, Arsenio Hall went to this. I'm following you. I'm with you. Yvette Nicole Brown Hall. I'm like, you had Arsenio Hall. Oh, my God. And it should have been Arsenio Hall Hall. Arsenio Hall. Oh, my God. And it should have been Arsenio Hall Hall.

Arsenio Hall Hall is what I said. Or just Hall Hall. Right, and then you could have Yvette Nicole Brown, you know. Something else. Staff toilet or something. Janitorial closet. I mean, she can, you know, she's a magnificent human being. Something else but a hall.

Come on. The hall if you have Arsenio Hall. I mean, I love Yvette, but come hall. Come on. The hall if you have, our senior hall. I mean, I love it, Yvette, but come on. Yeah, exactly. Anyway, that was when I found out schools have halls of fame, but yours doesn't, right? Maybe it's a secret one. Maybe you're not in it.

It's Shug's in it, and you're not in it. I think that's probably what happened. So did you graduate school at 16? I did, yeah. So I started high school when I was 12. Wow. Yeah. Were you like some Doogie Howser shit?

I know. I mean, I think my parents had me start kindergarten a year before they should have. And then in second grade, they thought I was too advanced, so they just brought me right into third grade. So my whole youth, I was like two years younger than most of my classmates. That's kind of interesting, because that's going to make you feel like a little bit of an outsider. Did you feel like an outsider, Al? Well, yes, I did, but I don't think it was totally because of my age because like I said, I was pretty nerdy and I was pretty awkward and not very social. So I think

even if I was the same age, I still would have kind of stood out and not really fit in. Yeah, I think that's possibly true. And the thing is about it as well, I think maybe a lot of people don't know this about you. You're very techie, aren't you? I mean, you're very knowledgeable about particularly musical stuff is what I'm going to say. Like, do you keep up on like all the like synth technology and like the super, what do they call that thing again? Auto-beep or something. Auto-erotic.

Auto-erotic massage. I think that's a musical thing. It seems to be actually. It's done away with a few musicians for sure. Would it be terrible though if I was going to do that? And I'm not saying I haven't, but I haven't done it today. But if I was going to do that, I'd be scared. Well, you should be.

Oh, yeah. It's not safe. I don't like to feel scared when I'm on my own. You should not feel that way. All right, let's get the hell off of this. So if you graduated high school at 60, what happened? Did you go to college? I did.

I went to the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo. Wow, that's a catchy one. You know, T-shirts are three feet wide to get the whole name on there. Wow. San Luis Obispo. Obispo. Obispo. Is that where they have that hotel?

Yes, they have a hotel there. But it's got, what's it called? Oh, Madonna Inn. Madonna Inn, yeah. Have you been there? I have. Have you? Oh, that's the, you know, tourist attraction in San Luis Obispo.

Yeah, I went to the, I think I stayed in the Flintstones room. Oh, that's the, you know, tourist attraction in San Luis Obispo. Yeah, I went to the, I think I stayed in the Flintstones room. Oh, the caveman room. Right, caveman room. There's like a three-year waiting list for that room. You must be like important or something. No, no, this was way back in the day. This is before the internet had snuck up on the Madonna Inn.

But there's the other one. Have you stayed there? I think one time when we, the band played San Luis Obispo, I think they arranged to actually have us stay at the Madonna Inn, which was pretty cool. Yeah, do you remember what room you were in? Not the cave man room. I wasn't quite that special. That's maybe the night I was

staying in. It was for a whole event I was doing on my own about autoerotic cave dwelling. Yes. So, what did you study at college? Architecture. Now, see, what the hell?

What was I doing? I don't know. Are you still into architecture? You know, not so much. I mean, I appreciate a good building, but, you know, it's... What kind do you like? Do you like a brutalist, you know, kind of German Bauhaus type thing? I like kind of brown ones, brown buildings.

You would have been a terrible architect. I was the worst. Yeah, because you got to say, what kind of building are you going to kind of brown ones, brown buildings. You would have been a terrible architect. I was the worst. Yeah, because you got to say, what kind of building are you going to put up? Oh, brown one. I think this needs a brown one. Can we see a drawing?

Yes. But the reason I say about the techie stuff is because you do the best birthday cards in the world. Anybody who's a friend of yours, you do the greatest,

greatest birthday card. Oh, thank you. birthday card thank you and no thank you and i showed the last one you did for me which was sensational and i showed it to my youngest son and he's like liam who you've met of course and he's like oh my god that must have taken him weeks to do that and i was like yeah i think it probably did. But it didn't. It did, but I have to confess that you're not the only person I sent that card to. I knew it! I changed the names for the other people, though. So it's a kind of like super high-tech jib-jab thing going on. It is. I guess I'll give them a plug. It's American

Greetings. And it's a birthday card. People think, oh, it's AI. They had you like doing like all these different names you like they made your mouth move and made the word no it's old school i literally had to go through like over a thousand names to do that and every single age and every you know so i had a you know there are like two different times when i mentioned somebody's name so i had to go twice through the entire scene with a thousand names it was a lot of work why did you do this I mean because the card is fine well you know I just wanted to freak you out it freaked me out all right when I got it I was like oh my god that's crazy I really

genuinely I mean I'm not illiterate in the world of tech but I'm like I have no idea how he did this I have genuinely no idea and I remember years years ago, you might not remember this, but when I was on the Drew Carey show, I played Drew's English boss, Mr. Wick. And you came on the show and you did a rap video type thing with Drew. Do you remember this? A rap video? I think I can't know. I was joining Drew's band at the very end or something like that. They made another accordion player. was joining Drew's band at the very end or something like that. They need another accordion player. Yeah, but didn't you do some kind of like, it looked like a kind of 90s rap thing.

I can't remember, but. You're probably confusing me. The main thing I remember about doing the Drew Carey show was it was right after I had my laser surgery. So I wasn't doing the glasses and the mustache anymore. And the producers insisted that I have the glasses and the mustache, because otherwise, how are they going to know it's weird now they did the same with Drew

Drew on that show he got Lasix and he lost like 40 pounds and they used to make wear a fat suit really yeah

the last few seasons Drew was like he was coming in like I gotta get a fat suit on and put the glasses on so they knew it was Drew Carey but he had lost the weight

I don't feel so bad now I also didn't have to wear a fat suit I wasn't English either on. So they knew it was Drew Carey, but he had lost the weight. I don't feel so bad now. I didn't have to wear a fat suit. I wasn't English either. I had to pretend to be English. It was a mess. It was a mess that show. You gotta do it. I'm Angie Martinez. Check out my podcast where I talk to some of the biggest athletes,

musicians, actors in the world. We go beyond the headlines and the soundbites to have real conversations about real life, death, love, and everything in between. This life right here, just finding myself, just relaxation, just not feeling stressed, just not feeling pressed. This is what I'm most proud of.

I'm proud of Mary because I've been through hell and some horrible things. That feeling that I had of inadequacy is gone. You're going to die being you. So you got to constantly work on who you are to make sure that

the stars align correctly. Life ain't easy and it's getting harder and harder. So if you have a story to tell, if you've come through some trials, you need to share it because you're going to inspire someone. You're going to, you're going to give somebody the motivation to not give up,

to not quit. Listen to Angie Martinez IRL on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Back in 1969, this was the hottest song around. So hot that some guys from Michigan tried to steal it. My name is Daniel Ralston. It's the time of the season for the beast. My name is Daniel Ralston. For ten years, I've been obsessed with one of the most bizarre and audacious cons in rock and roll history.

A group would have a hit record, and quickly they would hire a bunch of guys to go out and be the group. People were being cheated on several levels. After years of searching, we bring you the true story of the fake zombies. I was like blown away. These guys are not going to get away with it. Listen to the true story of the fake zombies on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, everyone. I am Lacey Lamar. And I'm Amber Ruffin, a better Lacey Lamar. Boo.

Okay, everybody, we have exciting news to share. We're back with season two of the Amber and Lacey, Lacey and Amber show on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network. You thought you had fun last season? Well, you were right. And you should tune in today for new fun segments like Sister Court and listening to Lacey's steamy DMs. We've got new and exciting guests like Michael Beach. That's my husband. Daphne Spring, Daniel Thrasher, Peppermint, Morgan J. and more. You got to watch us. No, you mean you have to listen to us. I mean, you can still watch us, but you got to listen. Like if you're watching us, you have to tell us like if you're out the window, you have to say, hey, I'm watching you outside of the window.

Just, you know what? Listen to the Amber and Lacey, Lacey and Amber show on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Did you ever do a sitcom for any length of time? Not any length of time. No, I did some animated stuff. I was Milo Murphy in Milo Murphy's Law, but I was never in any kind of live action. Right, okay.

So, let me ask you this. You're in doing architecture. Did you graduate as an architect? I did. Got my degree. I could design your house tomorrow. Very, very, very badly. So, if...

Really? Yeah. I never knew this. I don't know why I don't know this. I've known you for quite a long time. I didn't know you were an architect. Well, I'm not... I have a degree

that is a make being an architect. I think there's a few other steps you have to go through before you... You didn't actually practice? No. You never did? What about any of your houses

that you live in? Have you ever designed them? No. What about shelving? Did you even live in? Have you ever designed them? No. What about shelving? Did you even design a shelving unit or something? I will say I designed a couple of my bathroom remodels. Okay, fair enough. That doesn't make you an architect. No. It just makes you a guy who goes to the bathroom. Yeah, I think the Cerise closets would be nice. Yes. They would be lovely. So what happens? You graduate as an architect, but radio is what you love, right?

Yeah, I just, you know, I didn't know what I was going to do when I graduated. I didn't think I'd have a career in showbiz or anything like that, but I figured, like, I graduated when I was, like, what, 19, 20,

and I figured, actually, my senior year in college, Capitol Records put out My Bologna because I recorded that in the bathroom across the whole from my campus radio station. Right, that's right.

But yeah, it was, and I still didn't think, like, oh, this is what I'm going to be doing for the next 40 years, but I thought, well, you know what, I've got a single on Capital Records, I might as well knock on some doors and see if I can, like, make anything out of this kooky career thing. There wasn't, like, a plan then, it just kind of, you followed the hood of the car and it took you where it was going? Pretty much. I think that's great.

You know, I was a fan of the Dr. Demento show and he was giving me a lot of exposure. Talk to me about Dr. Demento because I'm illiterate in the world of Dr. Demento. Okay. Other than what I've seen portrayed fictionally. So you have to talk me through what that is because it's a real cult thing in LA, right? You have to join a cult to listen to the show, yes. Right yes right well there's a few cults in LA and I get that but but this particular one and it was a real cult favorite right oh yeah so um yeah Dr. Demento whose real name is uh Barry Hanson uh he was on KMET in Los Angeles for decades this is like a local radio station yeah

it's local but his show became so popular that it became syndicated nationwide. Right. And I think maybe around the world a little bit, but mostly in North America. But he got famous for playing all sorts

of comedy and novelty and just weird stuff from his personal record collection. He had a huge, huge record collection at home. If you were ever

at his house, you'd go to his kitchen, open the cupboards, they're full of records. There's just records everywhere. Vinyl, right? Vinyl, yeah.

And he collects everything now, but he has a huge, huge vinyl collection. Is that where you first heard? It may have been how I first heard. Is it Bobby Pickett and the Crip Kickers? Yeah. Monster Mash? Yeah, which is still one of my favorite songs. Yeah.

That's a great song. Yeah, that was a big, like a top 40 radio hit. So I'm not sure if I heard that on Demento or just on KHJ or whatever it was one of the big guns but yeah I mean that's where I got exposed to like Spike Jones and Alan Sherman and Tom Lehrer and Stan Freeburg and all these these people and I thought wow well maybe it's a it's a real world though that it was kind of a I'm not going to say it's niche because it's too big for that but it was a it was a world which existed outside of the mainstream right I mean yeah and yeah it went you were the guy who kind of brought it mainstream because it's too big for that. But it was a world which existed outside of the mainstream, right?

Oh, yeah. And yet, you were the guy who kind of brought it mainstream, really, weren't you? I mean, you kind of broke out of the kind of subterranean, weird record-listening world. My Bologna was probably the one that did it, right? Yeah, that was the first one, for sure. I mean, Dr. Demento played, again, all sorts of his personal records, but I was one of the few people

that was just like sending him unsolicited material in the mail. Right. And he'd play that, and it was definitely a breakout because it lit up the request lines, as they say, and all of a sudden... That's so cute, the request lines and all.

Isn't that like simpler times, Al? Yes, yes. Simpler times. that. Isn't that like simpler times, Al? Yes, yes. Simpler times. So in this world that you're in, it seems like it was simpler times. How do you approach it now? Do you have like the tickety-tock and the Instagram and the... I got some of that. I'm still ostensibly on Twitter, although I haven't really, you know...

Yeah. I think Twitter doesn't really exist anymore, does it? I think some other It's definitely been declawed, for sure. Something's happened to that. I don't know if I'm slow quitting or I just haven't posted in a while, but I'm theoretically

still on Twitter, but mostly Instagram. I'm on Blue Sky and I'm on Threads. I don't know. What about Bingo? Do you know that one? Bingo? No. No, Bingo. It's a new one. I just made it up. I like it, though. I don't know. What about Bingo? Do you know that one? Bingo? No. No, Bingo. It's a new one. I just made it up. I like it, though.

I would join. Yeah, it's going to be a Bingo. I'll sign up. Can you Bingo me? Sure. Yeah, I'll Bingo right now. And if you get one you like, you go, it's a Bingo. And then you do memes of Christopher Walken.

Not Christopher Walken. Christopher Walks. Yes. Christopher Walks. Yes. He says it in Inglourious Basterds, right? It's a Bingo. It's a Waltz. Yes, yes. He says it in Inglourious Basterds, right? It's a bingo! It's a bingo!

As a Nazi. Nazi bingo, everybody! So, when you're in this world, you move out of this rather kind of sweet, nerdy world of architecture comedy songs, but then you become kind of a... You get drawn into the world of rock music, which is slightly less innocent.

Do you hear the siren call of a black tar heroine? Not so much. I mean, I don't know if it's my reputation preceding me, but I don't think I ever really got offered drugs on the road or at parties. Nobody even offered you drugs? No, so rude. That is, I feel bad. If I'd have been around then, I would certainly have offered you some of mine. Thank you, Craig.

Oh, my goodness. I appreciate that. That's shocking. My fellow addicts and alcoholics. At least offer me drugs so I can be offended and say no. Oh, my. Oh. Margaret Dumont in the Marx Brothers movies.

I'm so offended. So you were walking around dressed as Margaret Dumont with a big dress on. And it never called to you that wildness or were you scared of it? Doing drugs? Well, just the kind of, because it was a particularly wild and kind of debauched era of rock, wasn't it? Well, I guess. I mean, it depends what circles you travel in. I mean, I did promise my parents that I wouldn't do drugs, so I didn't.

We all did that. Yeah. But I mean. And mostly, I think I was just afraid that drugs would turn me normal and I couldn't handle it. It would be bad for time in my career. You'd have like a reverse thing. Reverse Weird Al. So, that's a thing.

You can have that. I found that on the internet. I've had a reverse Weird Al. Have you? You would not like it. Oh. I, on the other hand, loved it. Oh.

That makes it the reverse Weird Al. So, let me ask you this. You started playing the accordion when you were a kid, right? Because you just liked the accordion. I got to tell you, by the way, when you were at my house in Scotland, remember we found that old accordion? Like your attic or your basement or something? It was in the basement. Well, we call it the crypt. The crypt.

Right? We don't just call it the crypt. It's a crypt. Yes. Right. So we found that old accordion down there, which I thought was amazing. It was like two days before you arrived. And then you were looking at the solo, which I still have. I think it's kind of dead, this accordion. Have you been practicing? No, no, I've got to be honest. I don't.

I drum, but the ghosts play the accordion. But the thing is about it, I don't know if I've ever told you this. The night we had a little ceilidh, a little Scottish dance at the house, and the accordion and fiddle player were there. When you came in and played the accordion with those guys, it was like Elvis had arrived. They were so, they were like, wait, that's fucking weird Al.

What the fuck is happening? Because they're in this fucking rural part of Scotland and they play accordions, Al. So they know who you are. And they're like this fucking rural part of Scotland and they play accordions out there so they know who you are and they're like, oh my God. It's like, it was so fucking weird.

And they were just, I just got to say, you made their entire year. They were very grateful. And it was pretty good. Your fingers were walking. I can figure pretty well. Yeah, you can.

And that's part of the reverse weirdo, I believe. There you go. So when you're in this world of comedy songs, this is kind of a niche world. I've got to be honest with you, comedy songs never really did it for me until I listened to you. I don't really... Who were you listening to before me?

Now that I think about it, I don't know if I've ever heard any comedy songs except for you. I don't really... Who were you listening to before me? Now that I think about it, I don't know if I've ever heard any comedy songs except for you. I mean, like... Really? Well, I guess somebody does. I mean, they just... I haven't remembered any.

Well, so, like in Scotland, who would have been the comedy songs? Well, anyone in the UK. Oh, you know what? Neil Ennis. Okay, yeah. Neil Ennis was a goddamn genius. Oh, yes.

Loved Neil. Did you know him? Well, I went to see him at McCabe's Guitar Shop. I went with Emo Phillipsman, went to see him perform. Got to hang out with him for a little bit. So I didn't really know him, know him, but always been a huge fan. Before Spinal Tap, he and Eric Idle did The Ruttles,

which was a Beatles pastiche. Perfect. Which was amazing. Amazing. Yeah, really. I still listen to it. I must tell Eric this. I still listen to I must tell Eric this I still listen to

The Ruttles as just like listening to it yeah they're like Beatles songs to me yeah they are like Beatles songs

it's like finding new Beatles songs from different eras it's amazing the Cheese and Onions I was going to say Cheese and Onions every time I have

something with Cheese and Onions I start singing Ruttles in my head time goes by that's the night Cheese and onions. C-H-E-E-S-E-O-N-I.

Oh no. Spell out C-H-E-E-Z-E-A-N-D. Oh my god. It's great stuff. I always thought, my rule for ever doing comedy, if I was ever going to parody something, I always thought you have to be at least as good as what you're parodying

or you're going to be, you're going to look like an idiot. Right. Is that something that, Well, we try. We try. No, for sure.

We try to copy it. I've had the same band for over 40 years and they're all amazing musicians. It's kind of, I probably shouldn't say this, but sometimes

when we're like doing like a, you know, a parody and we're trying to copy the original track, sometimes my drummer will say, do you want me to play it

exactly like they played it or correctly? Yeah, better, yeah. I think that's interesting. So you do that, you know, when you do the songs, but on tour, you do a whole set which is not parody songs, right? Well, we did that for two tours.

We did the Ridiculously Ill-Advised Vanity Tour and then the Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculous ill-advised vanity tour and then the unfortunate return of the ridiculous ill-advised vanity tour. And that was mostly for the hardcore fans

because we didn't do really any parodies and it didn't have any props or costumes. It was just very, you know, low-key and kind of intimate.

But I love doing that because we got to just be musicians and not put on this big, you know, show. And do all the, you know, all the B-sides and all the deep cuts.

And that was, I love doing that and the band loved doing that. And for the people that showed up, again, we're doing smaller theaters. Right, yeah. But they were so excited to hear some, like, random obscure track from the fourth album that they never thought they'd ever hear live. Well, but with that, there was recently in the last four or five years, you got a big Grammy win. Remember? I'm sure you do remember. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Was that for

parody songs, or was that for the... The last Grammy I got, actually, was as an art director, oddly enough. What was this? Because I had a box set. It was like my entire catalog, but it was boxed in a replica of my accordion. Wait, this is architecture right here.

This is the reach around part of the show. It's a reach around part. Yeah, the reverse Weird Al. That's what I'm saying. It's like, so the architecture actually comes into play. Yeah, I mean, there's some design that I guess I kind of gleaned from college. You know, the whole four years

were a complete waste. No, not at all. I can still print very neatly. Yeah, and also, you won a Grammy for designing a building made of records. Let's just call it that, Al.

Okay. Let's call it that. Now, you mentioned the name of a comedian. I want to talk to you about him because he's a very, very interesting comedian, a gentleman by the name

of Emo Phillips. Yes. And you and Emo are friends, right? Yes. Now, I don't know, I don't think I've ever met Emo Phillips. You haven't? No, but I remember seeing him. My first ever trip to the United States,

well, actually it wasn't even to the United States, my first trip to Just for Last Festival in Montreal in 1987. And I got to see Emo and Judy Tanuda come to rest there. And they were crazy different. They were very different to anything else that was going on. Yeah. How did you guys hook up? How did that?

I assume you mean how did we meet? Yeah, yeah, that's right. Well, we hooked up. You're being dirty, Al. Stop it. I'm going to tell Suzanne. We've been kind of bumping into each other since the early 80s because we were both 80s weirdos. And, of course, our paths are going to intersect.

I don't know. We were mutual fans, and we just wound up hanging out together. Does he tour with you and stuff like that? Yeah, for the two Band-Aid tours, he did. So he's done over 200 shows with me. Is he a musician? fans and we just you know wound up hanging out together does he tour with you and stuff like that yeah for the two band aid tours he did so he's done over 200 shows with me

is he a musician no he does his regular does the yeah I think does he still do that yeah

probably yeah that's very interesting no he's he's like the funniest guy in the world he's just

he should have him on the show sometime I would love I would love to talk to him I here's what I think love to talk to him. Here's what I think that, and then correct me if I'm wrong, but sometimes when someone has a very recognizable character that they do on stage,

because unless, does Emo Phillips walk around talking like that all the time? No, I mean, you know, it's, it's like you can hear that in his voice a little bit. Right, but it's an exaggerated version.

And I think he's very concerned about his public persona because he's one of those people that kind of hopes that people think he's like that all the time. Yeah, yeah. Because he's very much into like presenting an image. In fact, he was kind of giving me advice like back in 98, 99, back when I, you know, had my look change where I shaved out the mustache

and everything. But you go super handsome. But he was like very concerned. He was like, he wanted me to do the Drew Carey thing. He was like, you know, people want to see the iconic image. They want to see the mustache and handsome. But he was like very concerned. He was like, he wanted me to do the Drew Carey thing. He was like, you know, people want to see the iconic image. They want to see the mustache and glasses. And I think he was trying to talk me into just like always wearing fake glasses. And I kind of wanted to keep it real. Well, it's an interesting, and it's a fair point.

I mean, if you look at, you know, the Homer Simpson silhouette or something like that, if you create something like that. I mean, he kept bringing up Groucho. Like Groucho always had the mustache, you know. Until he did the game show. Didn't he still? He still had it for that, didn't he? Did he?

Did he paint it on the mustache for the game show? Either he... I don't know. He was painting it on for the longest time, but he definitely had a mustache for the game show. Were you a fan of the Mouse Brothers? Sure. Oh, my God.

I loved that. Yeah. What's that movie? I think it might be Horse Feathers. I don't know. Is it the one where they have the horse? Sounds like it might be. They have the horse in the dental surgery.

What's the one where they had the duck soup? Which one was that? I think that's Duck Soup. And when they went to that opera at night, what was that one called? I think it was like... That's the day of the races. But I was a huge...

The anarchy of that, the kind of terrifying out of controlness. It's interesting because when I was a huge, the anarchy of that, the kind of terrifying out of controlness. It's interesting because when I was a kid, I really didn't like the cat in the hat. Did it frighten you? It did. Because the cat in the hat used to come to the house and he would do all these naughty things and the parents were out. And I'm like, it's horrifying. That's a home invasion.

Yeah, it's this weird fucking cat. It's coming in the house with a hat on and he's getting the kids to do bad things this guy's evil yeah but at the same time

I love the Marx Brothers and that sense of anarchy I think their charm was much more acceptable to me as a five year old they're making fun of Margaret Dumont

they're not making fun of two little innocent kids alone in their house that's it uh huh that's it they're making fun of two little innocent kids alone in their house. That's it. Uh-huh. That's it. They're making fun of the adult figure, not the kid figure. You're right.

Oh, thanks, Al. Sure. Have you had therapy? I don't know, but I look at this as therapy. Yeah, well, I think that you're very good at it. I think, here's what I think. Screw what emo says. Okay.

Get a pipe, tweed jacket. I'm thinking a vague whiff of an Austrian accent and become a therapist when you're not on the road. Ooh, can I get one of those jackets with patches on the elbows? I would almost insist on it. Okay. And then lie down.

Or you can go and drag and be like Lorraine Bracco in The Sopranos. Ooh. That's also... Very nice. Yeah. Have you ever had therapy? No.

Oh, man, it's awesome. I had a therapist who used to wear she was fantastic used to wear all the same clothes, the same color, like she would wear green shoes, green tights, a green skirt, green blouse, and she would wear green eyeshadow. And it was like if it was green that day or and I think her office like a big green screen or something? It might be. I was in pretty bad Oh, chroma key, nice. I was in a bad shape then so maybe that was happening. Maybe it never happened at all. Did she look like just two disembodied eyes

looking at you? Yeah! That was, I think about it I'm having a flashback. So you're going along and you're being weird Al and then what happened in the 90s that caused the change?

Was there any kind of personal thing? Change for what? Well, taking the glasses off and all that. It was just, you know, at that point, the technology and science and medicine had gotten to the point where it felt like I wasn't taking my life into my hands by letting somebody shoot lasers into my eyeball. And I thought, you know, if I can like see, you know. I had lasers as well in the 90s, by the way. Did you? Right about that time.

Yeah. Did you get it again? No. I think they kind of said you could get it again, but it's, you know, maybe a little bit more dangerous the second time around. Oh, I don't want to hear that. Yeah. So I'm never getting it done again.

So I still wear glasses sometimes when I want to see distances because my eyes continue to change since like 1990. Yeah, mine too. But also as a disguise, do you wear glasses sometimes when I want to see distances because my eyes continue to change since like 1990. Yeah, mine too, yeah. But also as a disguise, do you wear glasses with maybe a nose and a mustache attached to them? I'm wearing one right now. Oh, my God. But you still know it was me. It's Emo Phillips.

So the idea then, so what I wanted to find out, was there a creative decision? Was that when you met Suzanne? Was that something that happened then? I didn't do it specifically to meet Suzanne, but it worked out that way. You're right. So you got rid of the glasses and Suzanne said, Very quickly, all of a sudden, women are like, who's this? She's like, wow, Al, you're beautiful.

Before, I thought you were Clark Kent, but you're really Superman. Yeah, my God. How did you guys meet? I know she told me. I'm going to, is this true?

It was a plane date? It was, correct. Right, okay. So who set you up? Do you know Billy Moomy? The name rings a bell, actually. He played,

he was like the biggest child actor when I was a child. He played little Will Robinson on Lost in Space. Of course, I know who it is. Yeah. And I would give you his whole IMDB, but look him up. But, you know, he was, and I've been fans of his for a long time.

And he was half of Barnes and Barnes who did Fish Heads. Do you know that song? Fish Heads, Fish Heads, lovely, lovely Fish Heads, Fish Heads, Fish Heads. Eat them up, yum. That's it. So I met him on the Dr. Demento show because he was a, you know, fish has his big head on Demento. He's part of your gang.

But he never introduced himself as Bill Mooney. He was always Art Barnes, like Art and Artie Barnes. And I'm gullible. I believe that. I didn't recognize him from, like, being a kid. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I got to stop you.

Is Emo Phillips, Emo Phillips is your real name? I feel like I'd be talking out of school to answer that question. All right, all right. Fair enough. Okay. All right. So you know this Will Robinson, Danger Will Robinson, Art Barnes. So he invites me to his house.

I'm at his house on the Hollywood Hills. I forget. We're recording something or hanging out or whatever. And I notice all this, like, Lost in space memorabilia around the house. And I'm like, again, I'm so stupid. I'm like, this guy is super into lost in space. He really likes this stuff. Gosh, he's a big fan.

He's got all these Billy Moomy posters on the wall. Man, this guy's a freak. He's like a super fan. He's like, uh-oh. Obsessed much? We got a weirdie. And then finally, after a long time, I figured out, oh, this is Bill Moomy. So he introduces you. He sets you up on a blindie. And then finally, after a long time, I figured out, oh, this is Bill Mooney. So he introduces you.

He sets you up on a blind date with Suzanne? And he actually had been setting me up on blind dates before and setting Suzanne up on blind dates. And they didn't really work out, obviously. Right. But he called me up one day and said, I'm going to set you up on this date with this woman who works at 20th Century Fox. You have to marry her. She's super clever, Suzanne. Yeah. I mean, it's like She's super clever, Susan. Yeah.

I mean, it's like she's intimidatingly cool clever. Yeah. She's got that kind of Annie Leibovitz vibe. You know, that kind of, you know, do you know what I mean? Like kind of scary, photography, clever, like sees the world slightly more than you do. That's how the vibe goes. Oh, I was thinking Franny Leibovitz. I was thinking like, ah!

Yeah, they're a little different. Yeah. But she is, she's like, she's super smart they're a little different. Yeah. But she is. She's like, she's super smart. Yeah, she is. Super clever woman. Yeah. And she's the whole package, you know?

Yeah, she is. I waited a long time to find her. Did you? Well, here's the thing, you know. It was actually really romantic because this is in the days before social media as we know it today. Right. I didn't have a picture of her. I didn't have any idea what she looked like.

And we didn't have time to go out on a date for a few weeks because I was just about to put out a new album. She was working overtime at 20th Century Fox. And we just couldn't find time to get together. But we had time late at night so we'd have these phone calls in the middle of the night.

Isn't this a movie with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan? It should be. You know, look, It should be, yeah. It's a rom-com material. You know, look, it's not too late. Yeah. Tom and Meg are both working. Tom and Meg should get back together for the Weird Al story.

I'm going to call it Suzanne and Al. Oh, I like that better. Yeah, Suzanne and Al. Do you guys have a mix-up name? Oh, the hyphen, the portmanteau? Yeah. So, Sal, I guess? Suzanne and Al? Sal? Do you guys have a mix-up name? Oh, the hyphenate, the portmanteau.

So Sal, I guess. Susanne and Al. Susal. Susal or Alsus or Alsas. The Yankovics. Oh, yeah, that'll work. Yeah, it's a little bit patriarchal, but I'll take it. What is that?

Is that Polish Yankovic? It's Yugoslavian, back when that was a country. You have to break it down though, man, because Yugoslavian, that was just like a construct after that. Yeah, I think, you know, I'm not 100% sure, but I think I'm Slovenian, like me and Melania. Oh, yeah, I get that.

You look a bit like her. Thank you. I'm Ed Angie Martinez. Check out my podcast where I talk to some of the biggest athletes, musicians, actors in the world. We go beyond the headlines and the sound bites to have real conversations about real life, death, love and everything in between. This life right here, just finding myself, just this relaxation, this not feeling stressed, this not feeling pressed. This is what I'm most proud of. I'm proud of Mary because I've been through hell

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just getting started or an established business owner, Butternomics will give you what you need to take your game to the next level. This is Butternomics. Listen to Butternomics on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Did you ever do the White House Correspondents thing? No! Or one of the big political things out there? I was not asked to do that. They could use some accordion there, I think.

I feel like that would be a good bet, because you're pretty good at straddling the line of not getting too political. Or I could just be playing mood music behind the president's speech, just a little hype. A little bit of accordion? Yeah, yeah. Look, don't take this the wrong way, buddy, but they might think it's a little French.

Oh. Are we still doing the French thing? The Freedom Fries deal? Freedom Fries. Do you know once, I swear this is true, I was in a diner in, I swear this is true, I was in a diner in, I think it was Arkansas.

I was on the road. You know how sometimes when you're on the road and you're like, I can't take another fucking Starbucks or, you know,

we've got to go to somewhere else. And we went to this diner. It was during all the Freedom Fries thing. Yeah. And I go to the bathroom and there were contraceptives and sex toys

no no no they were in my pocket there was you know one of those vending machines that sells contraceptives and little sex toys and they'd scored they'd scored I have to say as bad as my life got I never bought a sex toy

in a public bathroom from a vending machine. Yet. Yet. Is that the ones that say, just for show, not for go? But they had French ticklers. Yes. But they had taken out, and they'd called them freedom ticklers. That's the best.

The freedom ticklers. That's the best. You want a little freedom tickler? A freedom tickler. Look, I don't want to do this, but it's the best. The freedom tickler. That's the best. You want a little freedom tickler? A freedom tickler. Look, I don't want to do this, but it's for America. It's freedom ticklers. That's great. It was fantastic.

Oh, man. So you and Suzanne, you can get it together. Well, you can get it together, obviously, because you have a child. But you can't meet each other because you're so busy in your hectic show business lifestyle. Yeah, so we basically fell in love over the phone. Is that true? Yeah, pretty. I mean, because I remember thinking, like, I kind of hope she's,

I mean, I would marry her if she's homely, but I kind of hope she's cute because I'm going to marry this person. So I never saw her face until I opened the door to her first date. That's fantastic. And kind of beautiful. And I feel like it's probably a show on, isn't that like Love at First Sight or Naked Attraction? One of those.

We were the first reality show. Have you ever seen that show, Naked Attraction? No. Should I? No, you should not. It's a show on Channel 4 in the UK, right? Which is kind of like, it's pretty bad. But in this show, Naked Attraction,

what they do is they have these screens. It's Britain, so they don't care about nudity. And they have these screens and they start at the bottom. The person who's choosing a partner, these curtains come up and you see their feet

and then their knees and then their legs and you think, it's going to be Naked Attraction. And then the curtain keeps going and you see their junk. What? Male or female.

You see, and like harsh lighting, real people junk, not Hollywood airbrush junk, like shockingly unpleasant. This is a real thing. It's a real thing. And it keeps going. And it's not titillating at all. It's awful.

No. But I caught my youngest son watching it with his buddy. And they were like 10-year-old boys. And I was like, what the hell are you doing? And they were traumatized. I was like, oh my God, this is horrible. I was like, watch it all you like, kids. I just remember back in the day,

like when I was a teenager, you couldn't find like naked people on TV. It was like a big deal. There was like some show on PBS, I think Steam Bath or something like that. Nice. And it was like, oh, there's a shot of a woman in the shower. She's naked.

Yeah. And every single teenage boy in my whole high school was like watching PBS, public broadcasting. To see a naked lady. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember we used to, for some reason they're used to, I don't know why, but in Scotland when I was a kid, you would sometimes find torn up pieces of pornographic magazines in the street. Oh, rude.

Leave the whole thing. Pay it forward. But occasionally you see some ripped up picture of some. Yeah. That's more traumatic. Like then you can only get excited when you see ripped up women. So you don't want that. No, that's very dark.

That's bad. That's very dark. So you meet Suzanne. The first day you open the door, she comes to your house? Is that what happened? I went to her place. All right. So she opens the door and you're like, oh, sweet.

She's gorgeous. I'm already in love with her. So how long until you get married? I wonder what that is. That was 99. So I think it was, we met sometime in, I think, July 99. We got married February 2001. So, you know, standard year and a half.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, let me ask you this then. Was this before you had done the Hatfield Metallica image change or after? It was right after. See what I'm saying? Yeah. So, there was a plan, apparently. Folksy Al Yankovic appears on the door.

I get it. Yeah. And she didn't, you know, originally when Bill Mooney pitched her on the door I get it yeah and she didn't you know originally when Bill Mooney pitched her on the idea of going out with me she was like

weird Al I don't know but she gave me the benefit of the doubt because she said well maybe he's not like that all the time but you're awesome I think that's

now we have a mutual friend who introduced us I guess socially is Tom Lentz yes Tom has been a huge he's tom again one of those in britain they would call them eccentrics it's like you emo tom tom extremely gifted performers who march to the beat of their own drum yes and i wonder if that kind of

thing is encouraged by social media, if there's more of that, or if there's less of it because people are frightened of stepping outside the orthodoxy. Because you can get in a lot of trouble now. Yeah, I think weirdness is kind of encouraged on social media. People try to stand out. As long as you don't do anything deemed cancelable, I think, you know, I think... It changes every...

I mean, look, I try to be cognizant of it. I try to be respectful that manners change, but it seems like they change very quickly. And there's not really a consensus on what's cancelable and what's not. Well, apart from the obvious. But the, you know, I don't know. Do you ever think about it? Do you ever worry about it?

Yeah, well, yeah. I mean, you know, I've been releasing I've been releasing records since the late 70s. So some of the, you know, I obviously tried not to be offensive or do anything that I thought would come back to haunt me later. But there's some languages and words that I used in the 80s and 90s, which, you know, are now considered slurs or offensive. So, you know, in fact, there's one song that I did on this last tour, which had an offensive word in it. And I sang the word, and then the whole band stops, and I have to explain, like, I wrote this in the 90s.

I didn't mean any offense by it. Language is a fluid thing. Can you give me, I'm not going to ask you to say the word, but can you give me a clue as to what the word is or what it pertains to? I'll say it, because I say it in constant, it's hermaphrodite. Is that a slur? Well, it isains to. I'll say it because I say it in constant. It's hermaphrodite. Is that a slur? Well, it is, apparently. You know, I thought it was a medical description. Well, that's exactly how I explained it in my apology that, you know, when I wrote it in the 90s, I thought, okay, this is a technical medical term.

And this is, you know, the person in my hypothetical story happens to be one. And apparently, that word is considered a slur nowadays, which obviously was not my intention. Look, I'll be honest. It's not a word I be one. Right. And apparently that word is considered a slur nowadays, which obviously was not my intention. Look, I'll be honest. It's not a word I use often. No. I had no idea. And, you know, I can see why you would use it

because it's clearly it rhymes with stuff. And, you know, because language changes. I mean, even the word lame, you know, which is in common usage. And, you know, I haven't stopped saying that, but I mean, the point has been made like, oh, that's an ableist term. Like, okay, I can see that. But still, it's such a common.

And there's another word that I used. And I won't say this word, but it's a word that both Beyonce and Lizzo got in trouble for. It rhymes with plastic. Do you know what I'm saying? And begins with an SP. Oh, gosh, yeah, right, okay. And, you know, in North America, that's just considered like a goofy, you know, kind of person. But in other parts of the world, it's considered a horrible slur.

Well, you know, what's interesting is that the word you're talking about, when I was a kid growing up it was used to uh in in medical terms uh to describe or like you if someone was going to a school for people that suffered from disabilities or or had disabilities they would be called that yeah and they would they would be on the sign on the school yeah and it's not that i have any objection to language change and it does change but I think what I feel like there is a great deal of legitimacy in the changing of the language but I also feel there's a lot of people out there on the balls of their feet just waiting to be offended when there's no genuine harm meant by it and I think that that that's counterproductive to making a society more inclusive

and less oppressive to people who aren't having it as easy as the rest of us. Yeah. I mean, so I try my best.

Again, I'm trying very hard not to offend, but there's boundaries and there's lines. I don't think it's possible to do comedy and not offend someone.

Do you really think that? I really do. I don't mean that you have to be offensive yeah I mean that well somebody's always gonna find something exactly that's what I mean I don't think you have to look I I've become more and more I used to like be really you know the f-word in the act and all that kind of stuff and it was quite raw and harsh stuff and that was the way that I came out I mean, I was a comedian going on between punk rock acts in the late 1970s, early 1980s. It was appropriate for the time.

But now, if I go out and pretend to be angry about things, like I'm not angry, I'm a little chubby, I've got a nice car. I'm not that angry. Well, that's the thing. I mean, maybe, I don't know if you had the same kind of experience, but i found uh that i'm sometimes reluctant to do anything ironic on social media because no matter how obvious it is that you're making a joke yeah and you're known you know as a you know somebody who makes jokes for a living yeah there's going to be a certain percentage of people reading that going oh he really does that he He really is serious about that. Yeah, it's an interesting thing. The example I used, I wrote a book a couple of years ago, and in it I was writing about my sexual awakening.

And the phrase I used to describe the first inklings of sexual awakening was, all women in Scotland were called Margaret before 1974. Now, what I meant by that, the literary construct there is everything was just my auntie Margaret. And then when you start going into puberty, suddenly not all women are your auntie Margaret, and things are different. I didn't mean all women in Scotland were called Margaret.

Very few women in Scotland are called Margaret at any given time. Was somebody fact-checking your book? Like, actually. Well, I left the light in the book, but somebody did say to me during the editing process, no, that's not true. And I'm like, yeah, it's language. It's a mood.

Artistic license. It's language. It's a mood. Artistic license. Yeah, it's weird. I don't know if we... I struggle with the idea of taking everybody else's opinion into what I'm doing. I don't want to offend people. I know you don't. Yeah. But at the same time, I kind of like...

Ricky Gervais has a very nice line about it. It's just like, look, just because you're offended doesn't mean you're right. It just means you're offended, you know. And I think that's the bottom line of it, that I don't want to offend you, but if you are offended. I think Ricky might actually like to offend people, though. Oh, no, he loves to offend people. He loves it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But that's it. Do you know Ricky? No, not personally. It's funny. He's the sweetest guy is he? yeah it's the strangest thing because

he has that did you ever meet Don Rickles? oh no no almost it's a shame Rickles

I became friendly with Rickles and he was very very sweet like an old grandpa and very nice oh yeah famously a nice guy

right and of course his act was extremely impressive and they would set him on fire for it. I mean, it's just terrible. It would not fit. No.

You know what? And rightly so. You have to move on from that. But he, as a man, would be horrified if he thought he was hurting someone's feelings. Yeah. And you don't set out to hurt someone's feelings. And if you can avoid it and do comedy, I think that's great. But I honestly think, I don't set out to hurt someone's feelings and if you can avoid it and do comedy I think that's great

but I honestly think I don't think you can like you don't go to a roast and then go home going they all hated me yeah they were mean to have you ever been roasted? no I don't think so

but then he's young it's got to be common yeah it's got to be common I never really understood that to be honest the whole concept of roast? yeah I'm like

I don't like this i mean honestly i don't it's like i asked to do a couple i like they asked me to do bob saget's roast uh-huh and i loved bob yeah i was like no and bob was like now you come and you say these mean things about bob i'm not gonna do it yeah i i love you bob i'm not gonna do it it's like it's joking i went no bob it's it's it's mean and i'm not doing it do it. He's like, it's joking. I went, no, Bob, it's mean. I'm not doing it. Yeah. I mean, look, sometimes I think you're a dick,

but no one else needs to say that. Did you know Bob? I met him a couple of times. Yeah, he's a sweet man. Yeah. It was, again, someone who was very different to his act. Yeah. I was reading recently that Chevy Chase was really upset after his roast because he really thought they weren't joking.

Well, you know, with his reputation, I think maybe they weren't joking. I don't know if they were or they weren't, but it's a strange thing. So what's going on with you now? What's happening? Things are slow. I'm not touring probably for at least another year, year and a half. Right. Just kind of letting the ground lay fallow for a bit.

Seven years of plenty. Yeah. Seven years of famine. Yeah. So next year actually is a huge question mark. I'm not sure. You want to come to Scotland and hang out for a while? Maybe.

We'll see. Come and hang out. I know you've got a new castle. Got to check it out. It's not a new castle. It's new to me. New to you. Yeah.

That's the main thing. Yeah. And also, there is this myth that I live in a castle. It's not a new castle. It's new to me. New to you. That's the main thing. Yeah, and also, there is this myth that I live in a castle, Al. It's not a castle. It's a house that looks a bit like a castle. That's huge and made out of stone. And it's got a moat around it. Well, yeah, but look, these are technicalities. Look, you're an architect, Al, famously so.

You know, I didn't realize that I feel bad. It's not a condo. Come bad. It's not a condo. Come on. It's not a condo. You don't live in a condo either, though. Let's see. Are you a big union guy? A big union guy?

I believe in it. Yeah, I'm just thinking so. Yeah, I mean, I support the unions. I'm in several of them. And yeah, absolutely. How many of you? I'm in SAG, WGA, and DGA. Is that you?

Yeah. And Musicians Union as well for you, right? That as well, yeah. Yeah. They're a great union they like saved you guys do you remember maybe it was different for you

I remember auditioning to get you had to audition to get in the musicians union no that was the for me it was equity British actors equity

you had to it was so hard to get in that you had to the only reason I started doing stand up because you had to, the only reason I started doing stand-up because you had to have some gigs where you were a performer, but you couldn't get gigs unless you were a member of British Actors' Equity. So the only thing that was open was you could maybe get a couple of gigs

as a stand-up in a nightclub or something like that. Then you had to take it along with the union office. If you got three, they would let you in the union. I got two and they offered me a TV show. And so I had to join the union in Scotland. But it was different back then, though, I guess. What did you do? Did you play the accordion?

Yeah, and I have just the vaguest memory of this. But, I mean, in the early 80s, when I first joined the musicians' unit, I have a memory of coming into the union offices, and all these people with instruments and they had to play 30 seconds to prove, oh, you are a guitar player. Oh, you are a whatever. And I just remember there was one guy that

was a drummer and he just came in, didn't have anything with him. And they said, just slap on your knees. And he did like a little, okay, you're a drummer. Great. Okay. Sign the papers. You know what? If he was a real drummer, he'd have been doing that on the way in he'd never stop

never stop I still have a drum kit in the house I still like you play? I do I do I still play

and I still kind of I still when I listen to music particularly bands that are you know rock and roll bands and stuff

I tend to you know your ear tends to go to where you're interested in and that's and stuff, I tend to, you know, your ear tends to go to where you're interested in. And that's what I look for. And even to the point of I will listen to music that I don't like because I know the drumming's good. Do you ever have like jam sessions at your house?

Or does Liam play? Yeah, Liam does play. Liam plays guitar. He's good too. And he became fascinated with it. And yeah, we kind of mess around the house. Katie Tunstall is a friend of mine. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So Katie was at the house in Scotland and Liam's first jam session was me playing drums and Katie playing the bass and he was playing the guitar. Oh, great. That's so cool. It was that old Ting Ting song, I think. Yeah, yeah. Or some Velvet Underground song or something. And it was fun.

It was fun. And it was my life and then I just fell into a different thing. Yeah. My daughter, we both really like Katie but she was very much into,

I forget what the album was but it was during the period of time when my daughter played the bass for like three days. Right. Like we have

literally every instrument in the house at some point or another thinking that she was going to pick, you know, I, she, I gave her accordion lessons.

She's had like everything. And now she's in college. She's playing the harp, which is literally the only instrument we did not have. That's an awesome instrument. But she used to play, she used to play Katie Tunstall songs on the bass for a week. Katie's great.

And she is, she's got a crazy story. I mean, she's, she's a really interesting person and she is she's got a crazy story I mean she's a really interesting person and she's a real kind of she's like you she's like a real musician

she's a real proper there's nothing else going on she's a musician and she's a super talented person anyway that's enough

about it okay Al it's always a pleasure I love you love you long time love you man alright talk to you soon bye

bye I'm Angie Martinez and on my podcast I like to talk to everyone from Hall of Fame athletes to iconic musicians about getting real on some of the complications and challenges of real life. I had the best dad, and I had the best memories and the greatest experience. And that's all I want for my kids as long as they can have that.

Listen to Angie Martinez IRL on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. For 10 years, I've been obsessed with one of the most bizarre and audacious cons in rock and roll history.

We were all facing 20 years and all that good stuff. The lead singer tried to pull off an English accent and they went on the road as the zombies.

These guys are not going to get away with it. Zombies are too popular. Listen to the true story of the fake zombies on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Want to know how to leverage culture to build a successful business? Then Butternomics is the podcast for you.

I'm your host, Brandon Butler, founder and CEO of Butter ATL. And on Butternomics, we go deep with today's most influential entrepreneurs, innovators, and business leaders to peel back the layers on how they use culture as a driving force in their business. Butternomics will give you what you need to take your game to the next level. Listen to Butternomics on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.