The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Adam Rippon

Episode Date: December 28, 2021

American former figure skater Adam Rippon joins Andy Richter to talk about helping raise younger siblings, training for the Olympics, being an openly gay Olympic athlete, and more.

i'm recording i'm recording too i'm recording we're all recording let's start the podcast everybody hi this is andy richter uh and you've tuned into the three questions again and uh i am lucky enough to talk today to a prodigy to uh i don't know can you be a prodigy anymore or i think once you're in your 30s you're not really a prodigy unless it's for unless it's for like wheelchair races or something probably or walker races maybe yeah which is really famously known as the second wind of life a wheelchair race no but i'm speaking to adam ripon is ripon right or ripon is completely right yes all right good good um who. You're the first Olympian I think I've ever spoken to. Really?

I hope not the last, too. No, no. I'll be getting... Full of them. Yeah, I'll probably have the women's soccer team on next week and stuff like that. Yeah, Phelps is in line. Simone Biles is on. She's on standby. Michael Phelps. I don't feel like Michael Phelps would in line. Simone Biles is on. She's on standby.

Michael Phelps. I don't feel like Michael Phelps would be a good hour. I'm just guessing. You don't have to say anything. I mean, I don't know him at all, but I do feel like that's a fair guess. Well, how are you? I'm fantastic. And I'm so happy to be here.

I'm so happy we get to chat. This is going to be great. Thank you. Yeah. We actually, well, you and I have been Twitter pals for a while. Yes. And I mean, and I obviously heard about you when most of the country did, which was in 2018 when you became the first out gay Olympian, correct?

For the US? In the winter games, yes. Oh, somebody beat you to the summer games? Yeah. And then do I have to hang up now? I turned to dust. No, no. It's just, you know, I guess it's just easier to be gay when the weather's warm.

That's probably the deal. I think that is kind of the natural. That's what they do. That's kind of like the motto of the Trevor Project. It's easier to be gay if the weather's warm. If you're in a nice climate. Yeah, they always say that. It gets better if it's warmer is the end of that little pocket of information.

Well, I mean, well, we'll get to that when we get there because, you know, this is kind of, we kind of go in a chronological order here. But you're originally, you're a Pennsylvanian, correct? Is that it? Yes, I am. Yeah. And you don't live there anymore. You live here, right? No here no yeah i do live here yeah i haven't lived in i've i've lived in uh la for like almost 10 years this will be oh wow this

will be my 10 years yes and you like it do you feel like it's home or is it uh yeah it's home i love it i've never lived in like the holly Hollywoods or like in the middle of it all. I lived in South Bay for most of my time living in California. And now I live out on the East side. That's like Long Beach for people, right? Yeah. I was like, well, I told everyone Manhattan Beach, but my address was Hawthorne.

So really living a lie for about eight years. Oh, wow. Oh my God. You know what? Now I'm hanging up on you. It's just too many things being dug up. And now you live kind of east side, right? Yeah, I live in Pasadena now.

Oh, nice. Pasadena is gorgeous. I love here. Hot but gorgeous, yeah. Yeah, me, very me. I'm in Burbank because I just, I like to plunk down in one place where nothing's happening. And that's that's Burbank for me. I really love Burbank, though. I like I do, too. I really do, too, because it is kind of its own little world.

kind of its own little world um and i just i actually just saw a screening of the the paul thomas anderson movie uh licorice pizza it's a new one coming out and um he grew up in the valley and the movie's kind about the valley like some of his movies and like he pointed out because he did a discussion afterwards he pointed out and just i'd never thought about it but like the history of hollywood is largely like the history of the valley you know like oh yeah like most everything that you're going to be watching and that is like where the glitz and the glamour is it's from the valley it's from you know burbank yeah no you know burbank is the center of the world. Yes, yes, especially if you like kebabs. It's our big apple. You're the oldest of quite a few, aren't you, in a Catholic family?

Yeah, obviously my Catholic roots kind of coming through in the form of children, number of siblings. I'm the oldest of six wow yeah are you jealous uh no no but i do know you're you know you probably learned how to change a diaper at a very early age oh yeah i was changing diapers by the time i was like 11 yeah yeah yeah no i have a younger half brother and sister who are twins who are nine years younger than me. So that was always like, especially having twins in the house. There was no, there was no time to be squeamish about it. It was just, no, it was just gears. Here's a shit filled diaper kid. Change him.

filled diaper kid change him i remember of um like my first experience with like a sibling and their own poop was like one time we were driving and my mom turned around and uh she looked at my sister and she goes who gave her a peanut butter sandwich and as you can imagine it unfortunately wasn't a peanut butter sandwich that she was eating. My sister was eating her own shit out of her diaper. Oh, my God. Yeah. Oh, my God. I'm going to leave.

Oh, that is unbelievable. Yeah. Wow. And this sister today, is she well? Is she? Well, physically, I don't know about mentally after that. That's really something, too, to be like in a car seat, get the diaper off and then start snacking. Yeah.

I mean, just to reach in and go, I can't believe this is in here all along. yeah i mean just to reach in and go i can't believe this is in here all along oh my god that's terrible my daughter one time we were walking down just like you know like a a grassy la kind of hancock park street and we were walking along and she was probably about three or four uh and i i heard her go and i looked down and she had a tampon applicator in her mouth that she'd found on the ground and was playing it like a little trumpet oh and the horror that you feel oh my god That is actually so funny. Do do. Like, look at me. Look what I found.

Yeah. Here's some fanfare for me. Well, you know, it's funny because I get, I, I, to my knowledge, and I'm not like super hung up on birth order, but to my knowledge, you're like, I think you're like one of the few oldest that I've had. I have a lot. There's lots of youngest people on this show and lots of middle. Like, I'm a middle. And I do think that, like, you know, because I talk to different kinds of people, mostly comedians, but usually, you know, like attention starved weirdos is sort of the catch all. And it's usually middles and the babies that are like used to being like the play thing and, you know, not having to really worry about anything or have any fear about the world. So

was being the oldest, like, is there a burden to that? Like, do you feel like a responsibility for that? There is definitely a burden to it. And also being the oldest, you're the guinea pig. Like you are the science project of your parents. And I think especially as you get older, you see how they've like changed the recipe of being a parent and how like when i see what my mom did with my um youngest sibling i'm like my mom i would have been castrated and i would have been killed my mom would have murdered me um but i do think that there is something to be said about

like people in entertainment and in comedy and stuff that are the youngest or in the middle, because you're always trying to get like the attention of your family and you're, you're trying to like entertain everyone. And I think for me that came because I, uh, wasn't living at home when I was younger. I was like about 12 or 13 when I started like moving and like living away from home during the week because I was training and I was skating yeah and so I was always at like other people's houses and I was like living with other people and I was kind of like on my like you know on my own and like figuring out you know how to you know get around as like a any 12 year olds taking a greyhound bus would do um and um i think like because of that i was always kind of like the baby in these situations

so a lot of my friends if they didn't know i had siblings always thought i was the baby because i was always yes like you said starve for attention uh-huh uh-huh and i and and were you the youngest in a lot of these uh situations too yeah i was the youngest in a lot of these situations that i'd get thrown into it'd be like me and a bunch of like older people and i think because they thought like oh these people could be like your chaperone right so i was like always you know i and i think like that like deflection of like not wanting to be teased or being, you know, made fun of or whatever that you'd like take that and you use it as like ammo to like then entertain everyone.

Right, right. And also too, I imagine these are like teenagers you're with, like 16 year olds and nothing better than like putting a 12 year old in the care of 16 year olds. Because they say that medically yeah that that's nothing is nothing is more sound than um a child going through puberty that to take care of another child yep they're known for their good judgment yeah who said that very recently kind of like in a in a conjuncted with all of the vaccine stuff. It just kind of got lost in there. Yeah. Yeah. Well, wait, now tell me about that transition.

You're living at, you know, you start skating. You're just a kid at home in Philadelphia or in Pennsylvania. And you start skating. And how does that become like, oh, you're so good at this that you should go live elsewhere? And isn't that daunting and scary? And how does your folks, how do your folks deal with it? I think it's daunting and scary if I think of it now, but when you don't know any better, it's less scary. I think, I mean, like when I was young, I would do everything I could to make

sure that I could like go and skate. And that natural and slow progression of like, how do you go from just being like at your local rink to then traveling away? So I'm from Scranton, Pennsylvania. And so I would go out to like Philadelphia and that's where I would train. That's where I trained the first like few years of when I skated. And basically that started because there were different competitions out in Philadelphia and I'd go and do them like over a weekend or something. And my mom saw that I really liked skating and was taking it really seriously. So I signed up for a few of like a summer camp or like a little clinic that they would have at like a rink in

Philadelphia. And when I would go there, I would like improve a lot within these like four days of being at this camp. And so then that turned into me going to those a little bit more regularly and then finding someone that I was working with more consistently out there. And then I slowly started spending more and more time out there to the point where like my mom was driving me out there, which was like about two hours um about once or twice a week and then that kind of progressed into me needing to be out there a little bit more often so like a monday through friday situation and then um you know it was just a more serious like training mentality so there were other families who like lived there and had

other like children that skated and stuff so like i would then start to like live with those families and stuff and they kind of you know they felt like my own family but i was always like super grateful so it wasn't just me like getting thrown to the wolves the only time i really felt like i was like wow i'm on my own is just like taking the greyhound bus every Monday morning. And then like for every Friday night, taking the Greyhound back to like to Scranton. That was, yeah,

that's my grind. And this is into Philly. I took it into Philly. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Now are you going to school? Like,

do you go to the local school or do you have tutors or what? So when I was, uh, first starting to skate, I was like in school regularly. And then when I was going to Philadelphia a few times a year, a few times a week, I was skipping Wednesdays. And so like I would go to Philadelphia on Wednesday and Saturday. And then the school was saying that I was missing like too many days. I couldn't do that next year. And so then I started to do like, I was homeschooled for the rest of like my grade school career. My grade school

career. It's really lucrative, very lucrative, very, very lucrative, which was kind of a hot mess. And so when I graduated eighth grade, as a lot of people do in this country, I then did most of my high school online. So I had like real teachers in high school, but I was doing it online. Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah. See, well, that's nice that online actually existed then, you know? Yeah, it was nice that it existed because I can tell you that my mom and I were not a good teacher-student combo. I bet. Yeah. No, I, when my kids started to have to do homework, I just, I did like any good LA parent and I just threw money at it and hired a couple of times a week,

a tutor to come in and help them because like, especially my daughter, my daughter who, I mean, everybody in my family has ADD, but my daughter was like, when she was younger, was like a wild animal just in terms of ADD. And when fourth grade rolled around, which was homework time, I would come home from work. And I mean, and I had a cushy, you know, my life was cushy and TV wise. I'd come home, you know, six o'clock, but almost all of fourth grade from when I got home till when she went to bed was just about her homework because it was just such a struggle to get her to focus on it and to do it. And we quickly figured out like, Oh,

if we hire a stranger to come do it, she doesn't immediate. Like, she's like, there's no fucking around. Cause it's like, yeah, you know what?

She wants to please the strangers, her parents. she doesn't give a shit about exactly that's why the online in high school that that worked for me really well because my like biggest fear was like disappointing my i don't like art appreciation teacher over a yeah yeah couldn't imagine anything worse than that yep my daughter my daughter now who's an excellent student in high school is going through that where one of her grades is slipping and she's her main problem with and is slipping to a fucking B. And and she's whatever. Like the big worry she is, is that the teacher will think that she is not appreciating the teacher's labor enough.

And I'm just I've never seen someone so eye to eye than your daughter right now in this moment oh but i mean it's just like the tea you're worried about the teacher feeling bad oh my god yeah it's like there is like some sort of neuroses that are just baked in. They're just like, you come out of the womb with them as like time release mind fuckers. Truly. It's like I know for my family, it's definitely we like live with a lot of

Catholic guilt. We love it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We grow it. We nurture it, water it, take care of it. Well, now when you're doing it, water it, take care of it. Yeah. Well, now, when you're doing it, I mean, are you – you're so immersed in skating at such an early age. Is there – are you able to maintain that, like your love of it?

Is it continuous or are there times when it's tough, when you have such a – you know, there's this one thing in your life that's such a monolith, which is, I mean, unusual when you're in your early teens, you know? I mean, usually you got lots. Well, I mean, I guess some kids get crazy about a particular sport and that's what they do. But to go away from home is particular, you know? Yeah. But to go away from home is particular, you know? Yeah. I think like there's certain things where, like, obviously, yes, I made a lot of like sacrifices myself if I look back.

But in the moment, none of those felt like sacrifices. Like, you know, not, you know, having a lot of friends, not going out and doing anything like when you're in high school. None of that felt like a sacrifice. It still doesn't because it was like I got to do something I really liked instead. And I felt really lucky that I was able to do that. And I had to like prove and like really earn it from my parents because my mom was a single mom. And so I, you know, I was i really would do everything i could to prove that like all of these like sacrifices and me not being at home and everything it was like it was worth it

so it felt like you know i put i put a lot of pressure on myself when i was young um but i think that like anything anyone does in their life if they do it for a long time, their love of it evolves and changes and it doesn't stay like consistently one thing. You have to find new things that like you appreciate and love about it. And I think like by the end of my career, by the time I was getting ready for an Olympic Games, the thing that I loved the most was I loved the training. And I loved like that, that structure. And I loved like pushing myself to like my limits every day. And the biggest thing I loved was like the entertainment part of it. And so like, I worked really hard at home so that when I could go to a competition, I could just like

entertain and like relax and put on a nice performance. And like, if I was giving an interview or whatever, like I could, you know, joke around and have fun with whomever was there. Cause I was relaxed. I was ready. And like those, those were the things that I like focused on. And that's where like my love of it came. And I was, you know, I was, you know, in good shape. I was really thin. So, you know, what could be better? I've never encountered that. I have no idea what that's like.

I mean, I've forgotten since. So, oh, yeah, you're a real porker. Come on. Can't you tell my loves are growing well okay first of all what how old were you when your folks split if i may ask you may i was um i was 15 i think oh okay yeah so you'd already kind of you were out of the house a lot did you miss a lot of kind of whatever strife led up to the split? Yeah. Like I, I was home for like,

you know, some of the like dramatic moments of, you know, my parents and us and figuring out that they're getting a divorce and like, what does that mean? And stuff. But I think sometimes the hard thing for me was like, I'd get,

I would not be home for a whole week and then get like plopped and then basically kind of get like the cliff notes from a parent or like a sibling of like, what's going on. And like, you know, dad's moving like five minutes away. And like, you know, it was just, it was, I just wasn't a part of a lot of like that stuff. So I felt a little disconnected from it and i think i and i'm really grateful that i had my skating and everything because i didn't i i felt like less involved in that that craziness yeah um do you think it had a big a bigger effect on your siblings that were there um i mean i think it had a different effect i think for me it was like a it

was a big effect as well just in a different way because like it was me, it was like a, it was a big effect as well, just in a different way because like, it was all of a sudden, like if I was going to keep skating, it was like my mom who had to like fully figure out how to do that. And you know, she was now going to be, you know, you know, my, my dad was still helping out with my other siblings, but it was like my mom and I were going to figure out the skating thing. So there was just more pressure to like really step up. And, um, you know, if I was just having fun with it, like I couldn't just keep going to Philadelphia. If I just wanted to have fun, I could do it at home. But if I really wanted to be serious about it, I really needed to like step up. Is it expensive? Like, was it an expensive thing to do too?

You know, it's funny because, um, in like our, yes, first the short answer is yes, it an expensive thing to do too you know it's funny because um in like our yes first the short answer is yes it's expensive um the longer answer is that all of the winter sports are the it's the they're the more expensive sports of all of the olympic sports um there are less like team aspects to it um but even when you get to a team sport like hockey, there's like equipment that's really expensive. There's skates, there's ice time involved. Um, and then, um, uh, as like an elite skater, like when at the very end of my career, like I was, I had a coach and my expenses were on the really low end because I was like pretty broke. Um, so when I first like moved to California, i lived in my coach's basement because i couldn't

like afford to live anywhere else um i had a like i i when i first moved to california was like lake arrowhead um because there was like a big there used to be a big training center there so i moved to lake arrowhead and my coach was like you need to have a car because like you can't just be like a mountain person or like your brain is gonna melt and i was like okay but she was right and so i was like i will um i'll like lease the cheapest car i can find because i i would need to go up and down like this mountain and i was like i can't get like a car that's gonna shit out on the mountain or i'm gonna die right and i don'm going to die. Right. And I don't want to die in Lake Arrowhead. There's a million places that I could die in.

Arrowhead is not one of them. Or on the hill on the drive down from Lake Arrowhead. Right. I don't want to die on the 189. And so I was like, I'll lease a Jetta. So I like, I leased a Jetta. I had it for maybe two days before like, they were like, actually, we ran your credit, we need the car back. So like, I was like, oh my god, this is like rock bottom. So my coach was like, I'll, I explained it to him. He co-signed my lease for the car. and then like i just like slowly started to like like make money because at this point i was trying to i was paying for it all on my own i was like yeah just i was in my early 20s um and i needed

to pay for it on my own because it was just like if i can't figure this out i can't like if i can't figure this out on my own i can't do this and i'll figure it out and so i was really lucky with all the people around me that like did help me and stepped up because I wouldn't have never been able to do it on my very own um but basically like if we do a program like uh to like what we would compete with we'd compete with it for a whole year the low end of getting um a short program done would be like $3,000. And the high end of getting one done would be $10,000. What do you mean getting one done?

So to work with a choreographer to choreograph the whole piece. To build one for yourself. Yes. Yes. And so that's anywhere between $3,000 and $10,000 for it to work with like a good choreographer. And then for you, you have another program, which is anywhere between about five and 10,000. Wow. And then you have your coach who you pay and who you work with.

And my, um, an elite skater would probably work with their coach at least like 30 to 30 minutes to an hour a day. My coach's hourly rate was 145 an hour. Wow. So what my coach did, because he knew I was pretty, but really broke. And so what he decided was that I would work with him and I would take a 15-minute lesson twice a week. And then when he had other lessons, he would bring me in and I would

be like a demonstrator for him and I would help him. So like he was working with me, but I was actually helping him with his other lessons, but I was still getting like eyes on me and instruction. So he found ways to make it affordable for me. Um, which, you know, I wouldn't have been able to do it had it not been. Yeah. But then yeah. But then we have costumes and ice time and all of that other stuff. Sure. How are you making money at this time? I mean, do you win prize money in these things? So when I first moved to California,

it was like that's when I really started from zero. And so I started to teach a little bit so I could make a little money teaching. Um, and then I would go to competitions and like, if you go, if you're at a certain level, you get invited to these, like, uh, they're called like Grand Prix events. And, um, there's prize money from like first all the way down to, I think like maybe fifth or sixth. The real money is in like the medals. If you would like get any in that fourth to sixth range, you're just kind of getting enough to like cover expenses of that trip and maybe like a month of ice or something.

And so I was just kind of making like enough money to kind of get by. And then you would do like different shows like at a club or something like a skating club in some random city or something like Wyandotte. Or like you'd go to like the Colonial Figure Skating Club in Boston or like you just would go to these places and you do like a club show and you'd get paid like, you know, one or two thousand dollars, which is like, you know, a lot of money in that scheme of things. And so you would do that like in your off season, like in the summertime and you'd collect money that way. And sometimes you would get to do a bigger tour and you get a few more thousand dollars. So like your money was kind of coming from competitions and shows i see so there's no place in here for like a to work at wendy's you know like there's no or is there i mean like other there are some skaters like you know this is like uh home depot has like an incentive to like work with them if you're an Olympian or like on an Olympic track.

So like there's some sort of like things like that. Also, like if you really want to cut expenses, you can move to one of the Olympic training centers if you're a certain level. And we have one in Chula Vista. I'm like I'm like selling it to you. Like maybe you'd want to do this. Oh, yeah. Once I get the new knee. Right. Like, so we have one in Colorado Springs. I throw up. Lake Placid and Chula Vista.

And so you can move into them and you don't pay rent and you don't pay for food and stuff. So there are different ways for you to like save money. And there's a lot of athletes that live at the Olympic training center because it is so inexpensive, but not all of the best coaches are in Colorado Springs. So it's, you know, it's, there are ways to cut corners, but like, it's, yeah, it can be tough. Is it, is it weird going through your teen years in this kind of like do you get a weird socialization that you feel is different than most people by doing this i mean are you because you're kind of in a bubble and you're just like you end up knowing skaters right you know totally yeah i mean you get you're totally in a bubble i think like in a way like

you get in a bubble if you just did one thing all day, right? Sure, right. I think the fun part about it is, is that like you make a lot of friends from all over the place. Yeah. And so like a lot of your friends don't like live where you live.

Some of them train with you or you like skate with them every day. But I will say that because like you're in such a pressure filled environment where like you go out, you compete on your own and sometimes it goes really well and people see what kind of winner you are. And sometimes you go out and it goes really bad and they see what kind of loser you are. And they like those people that you're around, your peers really get to know you in your highest of highs and lowest of lows. So those people that you're around your peers really get to know you

in your highest of highs and lowest of lows so those people know you really well and a lot of the friends i grew up with like i've known them now for like 15 20 years they're still some of the best friends i have um and i think it's because of just being like in so many like high stakes you know high stakes feeling um events and you know them and of course like the socialization Just being in so many high-stakes feeling events. And you know them. And of course, the socialization is bizarre. It's weird. But it was my normal, I guess.

Now, Wendy, when does it kind of start? I mean, you came out here when you were early 20s. Yeah, 21. When does it really start to feel like, okay, this is working out and this is paying off? And is there an incident or a title that makes that feeling happen? I would say the first time I felt like, oh, I could actually go to an Olympics or I could be a national champion. The first time I ever felt that, I was like 17 18 ish um and I um was like a junior world champion and I was like okay I could because then all of a sudden it was like this was like in 2008 2009 so like we

were coming up on an olympics and um I was like okay like I really could make an olympic team in 2010 like it's not out of the question And once like that conversation was like around me, I started to feel like, okay, shit, I could really get it together. And then I didn't, I was an alternate for the team in 2010. And so then at that point I was like, I'm on track to go to an Olympics. And then I really put a lot of pressure on myself

because, you know, a lot of pressure on myself because, um, the, you know, a lot of people had retired. It felt like the doors were opening and, um, I just didn't really step through them ever. Like I had moments of like, Oh, I could do this, but then I just was putting a lot of pressure on myself. And then by the time we got to like 2014 um which i was 24 at this time it's pretty peak age to be in my specific sport um so like it's kind of feels like it's gonna happen now or never um and i go and i just i was you know doing all right and there was a moment to like kind of step through and i didn't do it and at that moment i was like i don't think this is ever gonna happen and that conversation around

me of like oh you can do this was like very much gone because at this point it was like i was one of the older skaters um it was very unlikely that i would go to an Olympics for the first time being 28. So it like all kind of weaned away and a lot of the opportunities that were around me, they also went away. And this was around the time when I moved to California and it was like I needed to just I either needed to get it together or stop because it was going to be like really sad. Like if I didn't get it together. Yeah.

Yeah. And so I was like, I'll just take it one event at a time and like, fuck it. And as soon as I was like, fuck it. And I was doing it and I was like paying for it on my own. And I took real ownership of it.

I got a lot of power out of being like, I have nothing to fucking lose and fuck all of these other teenagers. And something I think I'll stay for the rest of my life. You have to be careful how that phrase gets taken though. Right, exactly. And so once I had that sort of mentality, it was like, I felt a lot of power from it. Even though I was getting older, I was getting better

because I stopped like looking around to see like is like am I still gonna be competitive I was like fuck it if I'm still beating the kids they're just not fucking good enough it's okay yeah I'll just I'm not done yet and so then I just like I think at that the moments of like really feeling at my lowest in my career in like 2014 and those moments after, that's when I was like, oh, I really can do this because like I felt like I had nothing to lose. I was just going for it. And it was probably like when I was young, I felt it. And then when I like got older, I felt it again. And I felt like that power was like I could do anything if you just have like a fuck it mentality.

Yeah. It's yeah. It is like when you assume ownership of what you're doing and when you assume ownership of your, your right to be there and, and you have like a self-assuredness about like, well, I know how to do this thing.

It does. It creates this, this this because i like i often talk when people you know have complimented my work i say you know they'll say like it just seems like you know that you don't care you know like but and it's like yeah i don't but i i mean i care like i want to do a good job but also too like the results of it especially like what i do if it's i mean acting is one thing because that's committed to film or video and and lives forever but like doing a conan show it's like that's there's one every day like it's like right if it's if this one's a little you know this one lags a little or it just creates

you know like i had to tell conan at one point early on i was like look it's and it was just a total rationalization trying to talk him down off a ledge some of the shows are not going to be as good because that makes the good shows better like you're creating a bass note that creates the high notes which as i'm saying and i'm thinking like oh that's pretty good that's i'm writing it down as your time. Like, okay, high notes, right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, you got to have shitty days to have good days, which is actually kind of true. But it's like people don't understand that not caring is like one of the freest things in the world.

And yeah, you want to do a good job. is like one of the freest things in the world. And yeah, you want to do a good job. And yeah, you're devoted to this thing that you're doing and you're a pro, but it's like, eh, you can't. It's like worrying about how you look like dancing. You're just going to look stupid. It's when you stop caring that you look awesome. Trust me.

And it's like, it's totally, it's not that you don't care. It's just like, you've let go of this fear of failure and you've let go of this fear of being embarrassed. Because like, if you mess up and it's, and you make a mistake and it doesn't work out, like if you're not afraid of being embarrassed, you'll look back and be like, oh, I could do that differently. That's okay. I'll just, let's just do it again.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. Whatever. Fuck it. you'll look back and be like oh i could do that differently that's okay i'll just let's just do it again yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah whatever whatever what was it what was your i mean when when 2014 came around and you had to kind of grapple with maybe doing something different what was that what what in your mind was that going to be well so at this point it was like i was like i'm not good at anything else and so i was like what am i gonna do and i was like maybe i'll go back to school um so there was never any college or thought of college well i hadn't i because i was traveling around a lot and then by the time i graduated high school i took a gap year which which I'm still on. Yay! One of these days. I'm just doing a victory lap that never ends.

And so, because I lived in Toronto, I really was like, I don't know, I had this thing in my head where I was like, I wanted to go to school. I did not want to do it online. I wanted to go to a campus. Yeah. Still my reasoning today. yeah and so i uh

by the time and then by the time i was like graduated high school and was like i want to go to a school i moved to like arrowhead which obviously isn't known for its educational um hubs and so i and then when i moved to um la it was like we were getting right in the thick of like the olympics and so like our season ends in the summer so i was like let me figure out what i want to do but at first i knew i needed to like make money so i started coaching and doing like other like skating choreography and stuff i started doing a lot of that and i started to doing a lot of that. And I started to make a lot of a lot of I started to make some money. Yeah. But when I did that, I realized that like, I felt like I started to skate a little bit better. Because like, when I was explaining things, I felt like more masterful of like, other things I was doing. And I realized that like, oh, I, I'm a good like, people person.

And I'm a really good like communicator with someone and I can make yeah you know I can make break it down for someone and I'm I'm good at that and it made me feel like I was good at something else rather than just like this one thing where you know it's it's crazy like especially being out of Olympic sports now it's like um I was at the Olympics in Tokyo do it like working for nbc and i was watching them and i was like this is completely fucked that like you go out there and everything's over in 10 seconds like this is absolutely like has anyone like who greenlit this we should rethink this idea and as somebody who did it themselves it made complete sense to me and i'm like time yeah yeah i'm like munchausen by proxy and i'm like i am like

everyone is out there and everyone is named gypsy rose blanchard and i'm like you guys this is crazy to think about yeah yeah you're just yeah it's like when you guys, this is crazy to think about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're just, yeah. It's like when you're a log being thrown into the wood chipper, you don't really, you don't really notice. Like, oh, okay, go ahead. Grind me up.

Well, that was something I was, that was actually, that actually is something that touches on something I wanted to talk to you about. And that I often have thought about people that at a young age, especially athletes, especially Olympic athletes, that devote themselves to something that has a very short shelf life in terms of like compared to the length of a human life i always feel the same way about and i mean and we'll get to it but like dancing like i always feel like people that set out to become broadway dancers you want to say like well you know that stops at like 29 or 30 right you know like it's so fucking cruel and just like such a You know, like it's so fucking cruel and just like such a sausage factory that just like just grinds up and scorch out. And then when you're done, you're done. And goodbye. You know, I.

Yeah. How do you how are you coping with that? Because at a certain point, you have to realize that's where it's heading. That like like you said yourself, you peak at 24. Like, right. Where where else in the world do you peak i mean i'm 55 and i still feel like well as soon as i figure it out i'm really gonna as soon as i figure this shit out i'm really gonna start living yeah i mean we and we've been all saying that about you as soon as he figures it out right right start living he is going to apply himself if he just would apply himself

they've been saying since i was eight i mean it is nuts and i think that like i mean i don't know have you seen that documentary that michael phelps won it's called the weight of gold and they have not so in this documentary um and it's a really interesting like think piece on like um especially american athletes it focuses on american athletes and um that expectation you feel of winning and what it's like to step away and there's so many things that like especially if you're like a michael phelps like savant um you know your hands are the size of two tennis rackets yeah and you're eating 15 000 calories a minute and you're sucking down 87 octane before you go in the pool like you know when you're like that and you are just you're winning everything a lot of things are

like taking care and taking care for taking care of for for you. Yeah. And, um, you know, you're the elite of the elite and when you're not, it's over and you need to figure out those things. And there's so many things that like, sometimes you weren't prepared for. Um, and I think that in a way I was super lucky that I had this sort of like within my career fall from grace where it was like, oh, I know what it's like to like be dropped from your health insurance. I know what it's like to like, you know, you go to the grocery store and your credit card is declined. And it's like, I knew all of those things. And I could see for the first time that sausage factory of it all where it's like, you're not the new shiny thing. Someone is

next in line and you can either be, you know, upset and jealous or just know that like, that's the reality of how this specific career works. And, you know, I could, I had to like figure out how to make my way, you know,

through that. But I also will say that like, there's so many things that like, you know, I do like a lot more like comedy and like entertainment stuff now, which I really love. I've always loved it. But like, it's a completely different sense of exhaustion at the end of the day. your mind is tired but like the hardest thing for me to get over was that like a hard day meant i was physically tired and you can be physically you know have just sat down all day or just like done really nothing but like worked hard and it's a huge like serotonin drop and it's and it feels like when there aren't these such high pressure stakes and these really high pressure moments, it's almost like you're left with this feeling of like, what's the point of anything? Even if, you know, a lot of athletes struggle of like, what will I do next? And I felt lucky that I had a lot of opportunities happen quickly and consistently after my Olympics.

But that feeling of like, what the fuck am I doing? And what's the fucking point? That doesn't leave you for a long time. And there's moments where you like go out of it. But like the biggest thing was like trying to find a routine again and find like what do you do for joy? You know, I like going to the gym and i like working out but like for i didn't go for like three years because like i didn't know how to go

and just like go to feel good i only knew how to go to like train for an olympics in a hundred days yeah yeah right and so it was just like trying to re like re plant your roots as a normal person and not as like you know this isn't the focus anymore so like fine it's it's like you just have to rewire your brain and it's yeah really difficult but like it's it has it has to be done but it's true it's like your focus is on one thing that only lasts two weeks and then it's over. So it's a bizarre like dichotomy of like something that happens so quickly and then it's over and then you just move on from it. Yeah. Yeah, it's like it does become, I don't know if it's adrenaline,

but maybe it is serotonin. Maybe it is like it's just like you become a junkie on this kind of cycle because you just get kind of. It's adrenaline. You have to like yeah i mean it's like when people are like i get a runner's high um which those people are insane and they are not well those people those people i i have been you know when i started making money i started paying someone to work out with me because that's the only way that it works for me because i've i, I just have come to the conclusion that like, and especially the pandemic, I realized like, oh yeah, all the people that I need to make me happy or make me work or

make me exercise or make me eat well, like I'm, a i'm absolutely deeply profoundly codependent in so many ways and i just uh and and i i've worked on trying to make that better and i do try and make that better but it's like i also have to be like nope that's just how this machine works i need yeah i need other people to do it and i i just you know i totally relate to that i mean like i couldn't i had to start like working out with like a friend of mine because if i if i was just doing it to just just feel good i wanted to like eat both of my eyeballs yeah and i'd be like i don't what do you just feel good what does that even fucking mean? Well, that's, and that's, I mean, for me too, it's like, you know, the notion, you know, and I started working out with someone and the notion that you'll get to a point where,

cause like my trainer now I've worked out with him for a long time and we're friends, you know, like we're actually friends now. And he like lives for it. Like he trains people, he, you know, he does other things, it like he trains people he you know he does other things but like he trains people and when he trains with them he does everything i'm doing so he has his own workout then he works out with me and then he'll go like do crossfitty shit too and i'm just like when does that happen i've been paying someone to work out with me for like almost half my life when do i like this like when do when do i do this and my body doesn't just go stop please stop stop now please stop don't do this

it's i you know i you know and the whole notion of like the other aspect of it too is like as a depressive as just sort of like a regular like yep always kind you know it's always there a little bit as a depressive the notion of like it'll help you live longer it's always kind of like why would i want why would i want to do that right yeah yeah yes you know this you know this low level misery feel? If you go and be uncomfortable and sweat and make every bit of your body scream, please stop, go back and sit down, you'll live longer.

You'll get more misery. Wow. What a deal. I know. Love it. And you know another thing, since we're on that subject, I do think that people with mental illness are attracted and do really well in sports.

Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah. It's a complete distraction. There's like one like within the I think that like when I retired from competing, I got really depressed. I really it was like the first time I had to like sit down and like do emails and paperwork. And you know, there's a lot of like following up and corresponding with people. And I was like, I just like, couldn't do that. And I finally started talking to a doctor and, um, you know, he was like, I, you have ADHD. And it was like the first time I looked at things that I had done in the past. And of course, like sport was a perfect way to like mask that because it was like little goals every single day. You have to go. You have to move all the time.

There's like adrenaline. There's all of these many things to like focus on where it's like there's your attention is always at something. Yeah. And then like it's a distraction. And then when it's over, all of those like outlets to like cope with this are gone. And I think that like a lot of times people find success in sports because it's this outlet that they've never had. Yeah.

And then it gets taken away from them or they leave it or whatever. And like, they're left to like deal with their own, like, Oh shit, I have to figure this out on my own right right yeah i don't have like this this big big sort of competitive activity that i devote myself into and also you know it's another it's a yet another area too where it's

like it totally attracts people that you know are very susceptible to having a monomania for themselves. You know what I mean? Like, like a monomania, but then it's also a monomania that involves me doing this by myself over and over and over and over and over. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you, you can, and it's so easy and I'm like guilty of it myself where you really are so like, not even like self-centered, but self-focused where like you, you think of like, you know, cause your whole job is how do you feel? Like if you wake up the morning of the Olympics and you're like, I have a tummy ache, you're like, my whole career is fucked because I have a tummy ache.

Like, which is crazy. It is, it is. So like your whole life is around how do I feel and how do I make sure I always feel good? And it's weird to like, kind of like step out of that, especially with like a, you know, if you're with a partner or somebody who's not an athlete where they're like, what do you fucking mean that you might be a little

tired like can you can't just go do this thing yeah and you it's like really breaking that but yes it completely attracts this like self-centeredness and um you know hysteria yeah yeah now it's during this period after you come out here and you're and you're on your own figuring this out, having these ups and downs, you come out at one point. And that must have been I mean, because you're the you're, you know, the first. Which it seems so it seems so crazy in today, like to look back 10 years now, it just, it's unbelievable. Like, the notion that, like, Barack Obama said, well, I don't really believe in gay marriage. I believe in civil unions. And, you know, like, yes, you do.

You do believe. Like, you can't. Right. You just can't say it because you're waiting for everybody to catch up. And then, like, now, you know, gay marriage, gay marriage you just you know i just did a thing on it we we did a game show together uh full disclosure uh um but i was on another game show and like a lady that they had you know a a fan playing at home and she just you know was like very casually talked about well i'm i want to say hello to my son and his husband you know and just like just how matter of fact that is now and how

that's 10 years you know i know but so it's like but for you to do that at the time is such a huge deal and do you i mean i'm sure you've talked about it before but do you can you share like some of the thought process of that and sure timing you know i think like um you know i'm a figure skater and like ever since i could remember uh you know i was called doing that faggot things. And so, yeah, I mean, if you could see me in fourth grade, it would make sense why Matt Damon was still saying the F word until about a month ago. Until he learned that he shouldn't. From his children. From his children.

Yeah, from an essay his daughter wrote, which is, honestly, that is camp. Someone should have dressed as that to the Met Gala. The essay Matt Damon's daughter wrote. The essay, yeah.

And so, you know, I think being a figure skater, especially if you're a boy in it, you're just like always like, you're teased about being gay or whatever. And, you know, obviously, and of course, there's like a lot of, there are gay people involved in figure skating. There aren't as many as you might think, but there's a bunch.

And I think like in all sort of like anything that has some sort of like the arts attached to it, I think it attracts young LGBTQ plus people for the fact that there's this performance element of like i can be something else i can like distract from me and i can do this other thing that's like oh look but look at this right i think that's what really attracts it it's not like you know you're a young gay kid and you're like i just love the sound of blades crunching the ice and that attract that's like a sonar for being queer and so um i i think that like especially in my sport um there are like other queer people not a ton but there's a bunch um those are scientific numbers by the way i know but right right right that's what that's what the kinsey institute is saying right yeah kinsey a great skater by the way um and so um when i decided to the first so like i didn't come out myself until i was like in my early 20s um and I came out to my friends and everybody was fine. And my family,

everybody was great. Like I was very lucky at a really pretty easy coming out. Um, and then when I didn't make that Olympic team in 2014, um, you know, there's a lot going through my head, um, getting ready for that because it was, and this is, you know, there's a lot going through my head, um, getting ready for that because it was, and this is, you know, a sign of my own privilege, uh, that like in 2014, those games were in Russia. And right before the Olympics, um, Vladimir Putin came out with this like anti-gay propaganda law that like gay propaganda was illegal in Russia and nobody knew and still doesn't know like what, what does that mean?

Yeah. And there was some, like, pressure to talk about it. And what we were told was that, like, if we said anything, nobody knew what would happen to us upon arrival in Russia, if we were to go and say something. That, you know, we didn't know if we'd be putting our families in danger, if we were to go and say something, um, that, you know, we didn't know if we'd be putting our families in danger, if we'd be putting like our teammates in danger. So nobody really said anything. And that really weighed on me. Um, cause I was like, should I have said something? Should I not say something? Like, should I say something after? Um, and at the end of the day, I just, I didn't make the team so it didn't matter but after that and

when i started like was living in this like fuck it moment of my life i was like i'm gonna i'm gonna redo the things that i wish i had done differently and so one of them was like i want to be like i want to be like an out athlete. And if like my scores or something, if that like suffers because of that, that's stupid. And like, fuck it, whatever. I don't give a shit at this point. Right, right.

And do you want to be a part of of an activity that would work that way? Right. You know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely. I didn't. And I was like, this shouldn't matter. A lot of the hesitation I got of being a young gay kid

and don't be so girly or this or that came from other gay people in the sport. And I really feel that it was a huge projection of their own insecurities, of maybe something they went through. And I think in a weird and twisted way, they were trying to protect me from something that they thought would be there. Yeah.

But at the, but I was just at a point where I was like, I don't care. Like if, if you really believe that, then that really sucks. But like, I, I'm going gonna do this because like i'm gonna just like i'm gonna be as authentic to myself as possible and so like i came out and it was obviously not a big deal i was old um not really a favorite really old team my god jesus christ i mean like when you're competing with people who are still covered in like a billicle cord, you do feel a bit. Yeah. When they're doing stem cell research on the cord that's still attached to you, you're like, oh, you are.

I am old. I could be the scientist. Yeah. And so, you know, old. I was like in my late 20s. Yeah. And so. And what is that i went what is that what is that coming out to the world what form does that take so email i mean uh

i mean see all for real though like now coming out would be like a tweet or something and then it's like official like a statement or something so And then it's like official, like a statement or something. So what I wanted to do, because this was a lot like, I don't know, this was like 2014 or 15. So like, you know, if you go on my Twitter at 2015, I was tweeting like vague statuses of like amazing day. Like that's what we did in 2015. I loved it. Oh, Starbucks is just my favorite.

Ah, yeah. And you're like, that's it. And you're like, nobody was putting out statements like that. Like Twitter has turned into something completely different. Right.

Um, and so, uh, you know, I, what I decided to do was like, I called the president of us figure skating and I told them what I wanted to do.

And they had, there's like a figure skating magazine that comes out once a month. And they were like, we're behind you. We'll, we want to do whatever, like we can to help. Like they were so great.

And I did an interview and I just mentioned like my coming out experience in my interview. Yeah. And that was just how it was. It was like tucked in the middle of like some interview and nobody said anything for like, you know, probably until a month after that magazine had already been out because it was just like hidden in there. Right. And, you know, a bunch of my peers and friends were like, you know, that's awesome. Great. Congrats. You know, they already all knew. And then like my first competitions i did it was a little like odd with a few of the officials because i think one they all knew obviously

because like it's you know it's a small world um but there was this little like almost sort of like like funeral like aura around it for a minute but i was skating really well and so like at that point there really wasn't anything to do like and then everybody forgot about it so um you know it was it was not to like a big fanfare um especially until i was like at an olympics which at that point i had already not even cared about it for so long and then all really was this like you're the first out american for in a winter games and there was like all of a sudden a big deal. Yeah, yeah. Which had never been.

And you had never thought about it before that. Like you didn't think of being like the first of anything, right? No. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. No. And was there, did you start like sort of a trend of people being more open and honest? I would say that like, I would say that like in figure skating, in my sport, I was the only out athlete and there were there were only three out athletes in all of the winter sports across all of the whole like US team.

all of the winter sports across all of the whole like us team um there was a female speed skater um her name's britney bow and she's you should follow her she's amazing because she's a favorite for a gold this olympics in beijing okay um uh gus kenworthy and it was myself so um there was just the three of us and in the last four years on team usa there are so many more out athletes yeah and um it's just there it's incredible i mean like and i really was inspired for like you know in sports female athletes have been the real pioneer of like lgbtq plus representation it's like so many of the tennis players the you know the women's softball team women's basketball like there like so many of the tennis players, the, you know, the women's softball team, women's basketball, like there are so many incredible out and amazing representation in those sports. And they've been out for, you know, ever. Yeah.

And it's, it's like from their lead and like people like Jason Collins and stuff in basketball. And like, that's, I got like so much inspiration from that and i mean even in like um the last few years like carl nassib from the nfl and uh most recently there was a a kid from australia who's like a professional uh you know footballer who's now out and he's the only like so much more in the last four years um and it's amazing because it's something that you struggle with because I think as a gay person in sports, you feel like you'll be treated or judged differently, but the world is moving forward. And it's something that you want to share so that you feel like you can be closer to your teammates or people around you. And it really is a non-issue. Yeah.

It really is not important. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it is like one of those areas where if you, I mean, you don't have to try hard to feel pessimistic. All you have to do is read, you know, or turn on the TV to any news channel and feel like, oh my God, you know, just or turn on the TV to any news channel and feel like, oh, my God, you know. But it is one of those areas where it does feel like, OK, we're, you know, we're doing it.

We are sort of becoming more accepting and we're moving forward. And, you know, we'll probably homophobia will be eradicated by the time the seas really start to boil. And which could be any day now. It'll be so great to have no homophobia, but be living in a like under a canoe turned upside down just to get out of the sun. Yeah, it will be. It really will be like vacation at that point. Well, now, after you retire, I mean, do you have opportunities coming to you as you get close to that last Olympics?

And was it the Olympics where you're like when you finish that Olympics in what was it, 2018? And then is that like kind of like okay i'm you know there's no point in continuing this because well it was like i had never planned on one i've always i've always like and like i said earlier like part of my like focus was like entertaining people yeah and i think like i was always kind of like the class clown of like all of our camps and everything. And I needed to poke fun at myself, especially like when I was young, because like, you know,

I would get, you know, teased and made fun of all the time. And then I could I was always able to turn it around so that people were laughing with me and not at me. And I was like, this is something I'm really good at. And I could walk into any room with any kind of person and walk away. And I know that they'll be like, oh, that's my friend, Adam. And I was like, I know I can do that. Especially, you know, like I just, it was like part of my coping skills of like, you know, when you take the Greyhound bus, I always go back to the Greyhound bus. But when you take it and like someone sits down next to you and they're like, can I borrow your phone?

I forgot to make my call. And you're like, your call? It's like they just got out of prison. And so it's like, yeah, I can make, I'll work it out with anyone. Yeah, yeah. And so when I got to an Olympics, I think a lot of athletes don't really get to show their personality or like joke around it's a serious event um but i had the opportunity to do that and i really took advantage of it and i got to like experience this part of me that i really never did whereas i got to do

that in front of like a lot of people and so after after the Olympics, I did have all of these like, you know, they were just kind of like one-off little opportunities to like, you know, be a guest judge here, you know, do something like this or like a game show or something. Right. And I really enjoyed it and was like, I really want to like pursue this.

Like I love, I've always loved making people laugh. I've always loved entertaining people. I've always loved entertaining people and those opportunities like they kept coming and some of them got like were bigger opportunities than others but like they've all been something that I've really liked and it's been really fun because none of them have anything to do with my skating um but all of the lessons I've learned from sports it's like I've brought them all into everything that I do now, where it's like, yeah, I love to work hard. I love to get prepared. I, and I like, you know, I love all of that stuff. What was dancing with the stars like? I mean, it's kind of a natural,

I mean, to go from skating to dancing, but what was that experience like? Cause I just, but what was that experience like because i just well i get that show is so strange to me it's like a it's like from a different era or even it's like when you go to europe and you watch tv and it's like saturday night and it's very that it's it's like some weird variety show in europe yeah a guy in a lobster suit hitting an old lady with a rubber hammer. And you're like, this is primetime entertainment, you know? It's crazy to me that it's like a show that's like still on. And I don't think it's going away. Yeah.

Like it's one, it's crazy and it's like bizarre, but it's so I know why people like get sucked into it when they do it, because it's like it's crazy and it's like bizarre but it's so i know why people like get sucked into it when they do it because it's like it's so it's so challenging but it's so fun and you become really close with all of the people who do the show because like it's just one even if you've like performed or if you're a skater and you're like doing all the dances and everything, it's not like you're like learning how to like be a dancer. I would compare it to like, if you learned how to speak one sentence in a language and you spend all week to learn that one sentence and then the next week you just learn a new sentence in a different language. So it's not like you learn how to speak Chinese. It. It's like you only know how to say seven words that you figured out how to do within a week. So it's like you're it's really like you just like learn these steps specifically and then

like you just learn different steps the next week. So it's like your mind is like all over the place. But I mean, it is the only time and I never thought I'd compete against Tanya Harding, but I it's the only time I ever did. Oh, were you scared? I was scared. In skating, she's like our boogeyman, right? Oh, yeah, yeah.

We do not talk about her. We do not acknowledge her existence. And then all of a sudden, there she was in camo, head to toe. Oh, well, you overcame i did and you won that i mean yeah was that i mean that ride must be weird as week after week and they'd like that you know that you just must feel like you're going 100 miles an hour uh you know and and could wipe out at any minute. Totally. And I think like, I think like as an athlete, you see other athletes do it and it's usually right after their own Olympic experience. So it feels like part of their Olympics.

And so for a few athletes, like this is something that goes from Olympics right into this. So it all kind of jumbles into this one sort of thing. Yeah. And it's this like whirlwind of like being in this crazy bubble, you get home, so many things are different in your life. And then you like go and you start to go into this other like small, like little so it's it's all a lot at once but it's like it's very bizarre but very very fun i you should absolutely do it andy oh no no for you every oh yes i know i'm gonna call tyra no i'll call her first and tell her don't pick up his call well what are you doing with yourself these days? I mean, what's an average kind of,

what's an average week for you? Or is it kind of different? Do you have like a regular gig or? Yeah, I mean, it's obviously it's totally different because like sometimes like, you know, like the gigs aren't all the time. I don't, but my most consistent thing is that I do a show on MTV called Messiness. And it's like me and Snooki and Tori Spelling and this amazing comedian named

Teddy Ray. And it's the four of us. And it's basically, it's like a spinoff of ridiculousness. So it's like, we're on a panel and we just like go back and forth with like jokes and stuff. So it's incredibly fun. It's like the easiest thing I've ever done in my life.

And working with Snooki is obviously everything that I thought it would be and more. And if you do look kind of closely, that is her mugshot in my office. Up in the corner. Yes. Oh, wow. Yeah. So we all have different religious vices and that would be mine in the corner yeah nice yeah my daughter my daughter i i never you know i mean we would have people from uh jersey shore on the show and so forth. And, you know, and there was, you know, when the show was on, it was very popular, but my daughter has like, she has, she's a completist.

She's like, I think we've seen every single Jersey shore thing now. And I just kind of by osmosis kind of got caught up with that. I never watched it when it's not her, but there definitely have been times when she's been at my house and I'd be like, well, we could watch Jersey shore if you want, you know, just to, but it is like, Oh, yeah. Um, like, first of all, Tori is, is nuts, but she is the best. So funny. Yeah. So nice. Like, she's one of the best people I've ever met.

One of the easiest and best people to ever work with. Yeah. Teddy is so funny. Teddy has to literally deal with the three of us being so stupid and so insane. Um, and he's so great. And Nicole is just like, she's, I mean, she's a partier by career. Yeah.

And she is always like, she's always on time. She's always ready. And she's like, I was incredibly impressed. But also like, it is the only job I've had where it's like, they have to pick me up and like drive me to work because by the time I go home, I'm too drunk to like drive and I like it's like out of safety that I yeah yeah yeah yeah no there's there's some shows where they really pour the booze down you to get you to

have fun you know uh I did I did I did have you ever been on the match game that Alec Baldwin hosted? No, I haven't. No, I did. They, I did one of them a couple of years ago and I was in the morning one. They do,

they take three a day and I swear to God, I was there. It's 10 to nine. And there was this segment producer saying, well, help yourself to the bar. There's, there's a bar.

Don't be afraid. Go ahead and help have your bar. And it's like, it's not even nine. And finally, it's like, Judy Greer is a friend, and she was there, too. And we both were like, well, I guess we should just get a Bloody Mary or something, you know? Right. And Neil deGrasse Tyson had to sample every single wine they had before he decided on what wine he would drink. Sometimes when you get to those sets, it really turns into like the airport where it's like time is irrelevant.

Yes, yes. It's very the airport bar. Yeah, it is. And it's a weird conglomeration of like, oh, yeah, yeah, Neil deGrasse Tyson. Sure, he wants to taste every single kind of wine. He's like, what kind of wine do you have? And the guy's like, well, I have about 10. He goes like, I'd like to try it.

Which all of them. Okay. All right, Neil deGrasse Tyson, here you go. Here are 10 wines. All right, well, what's in your future? I mean, where do you see all this going for you well i um i always love to like well i've i've i really love what i'm doing obviously i you know i'm talking about messiness like it's like running for president like it's a career job

but i i really like doing stuff in like this space um i think i'd i'd really love to like act in a scripted comedy um like i i and i think like it's just a way to like apply that like competitiveness to like something else and to like a project and stuff um i love doing like you know live things because i love being like quick and sharp and coming back with different whatever's but yeah i think like the next thing i'd love to do is i'd love to like like act in a like some scripted show do you go do you go audition for things and are you repped for that and also like did you take classes or anything i mean are you taking acting classes because you don't really need to if If you can fake it, you can make it. Trust me.

So I'm repped for it. Listen, I'm repped and ready. And I've worked with some acting coaches before and it's really helpful. So I take some classes and stuff, but for now I've been pretty busy with other things. But yeah, it is something like i definitely am super interested in yeah yeah well um what do you think what do you think uh the point of this of your story up to this point is i mean what do you what's the main lesson that you've taken away from

i would say you know that like this the stupidest saying I've ever remembered and I think it's from like a lululemon bag um and it's like what would you do if you weren't afraid yeah and I take that into like everything that I like do and everything I go into and I remember all of the times that like I feel like I fell short and it was like, because I was afraid that I was going to make a mistake. And so I did. Yeah. And when I wasn't afraid, there were times I still made mistakes, but like I learned from them and I didn't repeat them. Yeah. And so like, I always go into everything like just unafraid and just try to do like my very best in those moments. Yeah. And I think that's the biggest lesson I've learned. And I feel like people can tell it to you,

but unless you like live it and do it yourself, you don't really learn it. Yeah. I think one, I think it also touches on the thing we talked about before in terms of a carefree kind of attitude, because I think a lot of times when people when you go into something and you have what does someone who's more uptight might be like oh a a fuck off attitude

or a lack a lackadaisical attitude or like you're not taking it seriously enough to me that's always struck that there's a lot of fear behind that you're not taking it serious it means enough means you're not as scared as i am you know like and so because it's like well i do take it seriously and i want it to be good but i'm not gonna i'm not gonna end my life if you know this show doesn't go well or if you know uh you know take your pick of what you know i mean i imagine a surgeon it's a little more important that you succeed but uh but you know what i mean it's like oh you make a mistake you fix it it's not a big deal but um it does seem that that's that there is like there's a strength in that there's a strength in kind of absolving yourself of the worry of failure yeah and the expectation of others i mean everyone is so caught up in their

own shit that they aren't really paying that much attention to you oh that's like i tell my kids when they've been self-con, you know, young people, self-conscious, I'm like, nobody cares. Right, they don't care. I can't go into the grocery store wearing this. Nobody gives a shit. No one cares. No one's watching you.

They're all thinking about you watching them, you know? Yes. They're worried about you looking at them and judging them. Yeah, it's a big, like when you learn that and you can like go into everything with, like, that attitude, it's just so much weight off of your shoulders. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Adam, thank you so much for this time.

And it's been really fun talking to you. And I'm glad we got a chance to do this. Andy, this was so fun. And I do, I want to tell you one more thing. So, because you were talking about Conan and I've always loved watching you when you were on Conan. Oh, thank you. I've met Conan once, and it was at a college signing day with Michelle Obama. Okay, also, the irony of me never going to college and me telling people to go to college isn't lost on me, but hang with me for one second. I I'm here. Okay. So because we were meeting Michelle Obama, we all got grouped in these like pockets of people to like go and take

a picture with her, which we all wanted to do. And it's like, you know, tons of different people. And they just put random people together. So there is this photo that does exist of me, Conan, Michelle Obama, and Nina Dobrev. And it is the craziest looking photo. And it looks like the most wild game of fuck, marry, kill I've ever seen. It is the most insane photo. And I just want to leave you with that parting message of me, Michelle Obama, Nina Dobrev, and Conan O'Brien. What a foursome. What a foursome.

What a foursome. Yeah, it is crazy. So I just want to leave you with that. That's my parting gift. Well, thank you. And I'm going to track that down. I would love to get, you know, if you have a copy uh i'd love to put it on the mail it right over when i get a man to burbank send me a mantle first and then i'll

all right well adam ripon thank you so much and thank you so much to all of you uh for listening to another episode of this thing uh and we'll be back more with uh next week with more of this thing. And we'll be back more with next week with more of this thing. The three questions with Andy Richter is a team Coco and your wolf production. It is produced by Lane Gerbig engineered by Marina Pice and talent produced by Galitza Hayek. The associate producer is Jen samples, supervising producer,

Aaron Blair and executive producers, Adam Sachs and Jeff Ross at Team Coco and Colin Anderson and Cody Fisher at Earwolf. Make sure to rate and review the three questions with Andy Richter on Apple Podcasts.