The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Sam Morril

Episode Date: December 7, 2021

Comedian Sam Morril talks with Andy Richter about  complaining about people, enjoying the solitude of the road, being mentored by established comics, back and neck pain, and more!

hey everyone uh it's another episode of the three questions with andy richter i'm andy richter and with me today is a very funny and uh well respected and and well traveled uh stand-up comedian who just got back from the neck doctor uh it's sam moral hi sam how are you yeah yeah i'm more traveled than i am respected for sure uh i gotta say something at the top i mean sure yeah yeah i was another white stand-up guy oh geez yeah yeah yeah that's we can go down that road, too. We could send this to Breitbart. Right, right, right. Well, hello.

It's good to see you. Did I divulge too much about the neck doctor? No, no. I mean, I'm a New York Jew. I complain nonstop. I feel like that's part of our culture is just to complain. Right. My mom will do like, she will do like complain Tai Chi with me.

Or like she'll take my negative energy and spin it into hers. It's like hijacking my whining. My mom is a whiner too. Yeah, yeah. I come from a long line of complainers. I don't think, the actual complaining or bitching about stuff i don't think that jewish people own that they just have their own brand of it because we certainly as midwesterners have our own version of just talking shit about everybody you know but it's

usually behind their back you know everything you know it's it's very sort of passive aggressive you keep this kind of you know humble exterior but really it's like fuck that guy you know for sure no you guys definitely have them it's more subtle but new yorkers we don't it's definitely not just jews you're right we have our own we have like that we're like the dr pepper of whiners but like but other other i mean every complaint i mean i think that's like why a show like seinfeld resonated with literally everybody yeah you're like oh we all complain right we all right because that's like i'm not drained by whiners usually there's certain types of whiners that take your life force but then yes there's other types of whiners that energize you yes they'll complain and they're like don't even get me started and you're like i'm this is like coffee to me i'm absolutely up i dave foley from kids in the hall the the first time i met him a million

years ago uh he bad-mouthed three other kids in the hall like within five minutes of meeting him and i knew we were in love i was just like all right this guy likes to bitch let's get it on there's nothing worse than than you trying to, because it's a form of bonding. When you try to complain to someone and they go, no, he's an all right guy. You're like, oh, we'll never be closed. You just, you blue balled my complaint.

How dare you? Exactly, exactly. And there's so many times. And then I have friends in my life too, who will shit talk everybody. And then you'll get to one spot and they'll be like i don't know that guy's had it pretty rough and i'm like oh fuck you man you're either all in or all out on this shit talking people here's how you're supposed to do it you shit on someone for 25

minutes and then you go good guy though that's how that's the class yeah yeah right exactly so you know there's no hard feelings yeah i i you know i never walked into shoes so i don't know maybe you know he's a product of something it's it's you know we all uh we all are are struggling we're all on our own journey oh yeah um but yeah it is good to see you uh how many times around you on the conan show it's i would think it was six yeah yeah because it was it was a fair amount i know i said your name a few times yeah it was uh it was the most fun show to do by a ton that was always uh that was a common comment and it was one of the things that made me feel really proud of that show um because

it was a very comfortable and warm place, especially, and it wasn't perfect. I mean, it was fucked up and there was dysfunction, but compared to some of these other shows where you go in and it's like, when you were a kid and you went into like a kid's, another kid's house. And it was obviously a lot of problems you know like just like having having dinner at someone else's house and realizing like oh this place is tense you know like wow there's some issues going on here and that's you know like letterman i don't did you ever do letterman i never did letterman and it's it meant more to me to be on conan always oh's nice. I was a child of, I hear so many comics be like, I grew up on Letterman. I grew up on Conan O'Brien's show because, you know, my brother was a huge Conan fan,

my older brother. And we're not blood related. He's my step-sibling, but, you know, we're close. And he has reddish hair, so he would get the Conan. So I think he felt close to Conan just by being a redhead. Right, right, right. By genetic anomaly, an actual mutation. Yeah, yeah.

And yeah, Conan was my favorite show always, like for Late Night by a Mile. It was the one that I connected with. I loved your rapport with him. I mean, it felt real. It didn't feel like, so many times on shows, they're like, we're going to pair you with this person. And mean, it felt real. It didn't feel like so, so many times on shows are like, we're going to pair you with this person. And it felt like a real friendship. Oh yeah. Yeah. No, it was pretty, I mean, we got to get, you know, like we got together just because of,

you know, I submitted a packet and I had to kind of get the job, but, but then it definitely did develop where over months before we did the show of just like him and I come into up with like just this act of two idiots, you know? Um, it's classic. I remember an episode. I remember being a kid watching, I think all three of you,

you Conan and stone cold, Steve Austin, all chug beers. And I was like, Oh, this is incredible that you could just, you could just be, you can kind of connect to anybody, you guys. And I was like, oh, this is incredible that you could just be – you could kind of connect to anybody, you guys.

And that's kind of what I liked. That's kind of like – I mean, I felt like Jon Stewart did that too, where he could kind of connect to any type of person on the show, which I liked. But, I mean, that's what late night – that's the late night I grew up on. I love that Conan didn't kind of – he never pandered with his monologue, which I thought is important for, I mean, I, we knew who he was and we knew where he stood, but I do feel like some late night hosts lose their way and kind of become

more about a political ideology than the joke and, and, and, and being funny and escapist, I thought separated Conan show. Well, that, and that was a and that was a fairly, you know, that was in terms of, that was a new thing. That was like, we started and there wasn't that kind of super, you know, like those shows that are really, you know, upfront being like, this is, we're going to talk about politics mostly. And there just wasn't that. So, and we never, I mean, I'm not interested in,

in doing that. You know, I, I'll, I talk about politics on Twitter and, you know, occasionally on Instagram, but like, I don't think they're funny. Like, I don't, I just don't, I don't have a lot of jokes. Like Trump wasn't funny. Like it was fucking scary, you know? And it also just became the same joke. That was the other problem is like, it's like everyone's making the same joke. And it's kind of like, it's tough to make jokes with Trump because even if you hate him, he is a funny character already. It's hard to spin it.

Yeah. It's hard. It's hard when the premise starts over here to bring the punchline all the way over. If he was a character in something, I would think, like, holy shit, that guy's fucking hilarious. But you saw that new Netflix show, right? The James Comey show with Jeff Daniels. No, I have not seen that. Okay, James Comey's played by Jeff Daniels.

And Brendan Gleeson, who I think is an incredible actor, is playing Trump. And I see the trailer. I'm like, that's a good Trump. I never want to watch it. Yeah, yeah. He's a great actor. I love both of them. But there's a show I will never, even if it's great.

It got to a point where like, you kind of have to give things a minute. I feel like with Vietnam movies, like I know a lot of them, right. But like at least Platoon came out in like the mid 80s. Right. You know, I know like with vietnam movies like i know a lot of them can't right but like at least platoon came out in like the mid 80s right you know i know like some of these movies but like when 9-11 movies were coming out like two years after 9-11 i was kind of like can we can we give this a second yeah can we can we find all the bodies before we're making movies about yeah before we're making cash on it you know turning into content it's tough that for for me it's like i like having it's tough to not yeah i mean there's i even think about like the

brian laundry stuff and you know some you know some netflix exec is like already like yeah we got a we got a documentary in the works about about. We already mic'd up Dog, the bounty hunter it's going to be. So I don't know. I'm just kind of like, I do like a little distance. And I like that with Conan's show, it was always, you guys always kept it very like pure funny. That's silly. Yeah, we tried it.

Conan even told me once, he said, you know, because we were aware of this kind of difference and i mean we had to do topical shit obviously because it's like it's too much work to do a show like that without you know we started out with this idea that we were gonna be like more like just pure absurdists like hybrid of sketch and talk show and then within a week we're like oh my god i hope fucking britney spears does something weird so we have something to make a joke about because it's just too much you can't like you know every time ever i've ever heard anyone say that like sort of an ambitious kind of way like we're going to do a daily show that's just and there have been a few of them over the years i'm always like

no you're not you're not going to do a show that's just about whatever have been a few of them over the years i'm always like no you're not you're not gonna do a show that's just about whatever you're gonna end up having to do a show about what's happening in the world because that's just it's too much it's too much to just come up with like i mean you know people come up with a few absurd ideas a few good absurd ideas that carries them through their whole lives you can't do do it through, you know, in just a, you know, just every single day. It's too tempting. Yeah, one thing you were talking about that Netflix, and this is something I've been thinking about, and I thought about it specifically with this Brian Laundrie thing is like,

the people whose job it is when something like that happens to be like, I need to reach out to these people and get them to sign a contract for their story. Like imagine the fucking, just the, the empty soulness of that kind of job. I'm oh, it's always like those kinds of jobs.

And just like, Oh my God, that's just, Oh yeah. If you work for like entertainment tonight and you're like, yeah, you just call it's like, you're,

you're basically like a cutco knife salesman, but people, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. If you work for like entertainment tonight and you're like, yeah, you just call it's like you're basically like a cutco knife salesman. But yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's tough, man. Yeah. It's yeah. It's. That's the thing, though, it's like, how do you not make jokes? I remember Craig Ferguson did a thing which was like really lauded as noble and brave when he was like i was an addict i'm not gonna make fun of britney spears yeah and then literally every other late night show is like yeah we are we have to we it's it's in the news every day i know so yeah it was pretty tragic though i was it was rough you know oh it's still tragic i mean but it's like how do you not like it's funny sometimes at the end of shows i'm bored so i'll just you know with my materials i'll say scream out any current event and let's find a joke let's find something right so people always scream out britney they always want to talk about britney you know there's certain things as tragic

as they are they always want to talk about r kelly yeah they always want to talk about these dark stories and r kelly is one that's like that's been i mean remember that chappelle show sketch i'm gonna pee on you that was like 50 that was like 15 17 years ago that's how long we've known this guy was pretty bad right right it's not like cosby where most people didn't know till like seven years ago or something or six years ago yeah yeah well i think people too though they're yelling that at you because they're not going to yell like the environment you know they're like they're trying to throw you a curveball of something that's supposedly like sad and untouchable so

give us a nuanced take on climate change all right here we go you don't i mean that's not really your thing though i mean you're kind of more observational stuff and is that do you i i mean was there a certain point where you started to think like in sort of meta terms about your work and like, this is kind of what the kind of comedy I do, or was it more just kind of the organic thinking of things that are, they're funny, they're going to work. There was honestly never a step back where I was like, here is the type of comedy I do. It was really just like things would pop into my head. I'd be drawn to certain news stories. I'd be drawn to certain behaviors. It

was never, it was never, uh, it was never an actual, like, uh, it was never a moment where I was like, here's a choice I'm making. It was always just like, you're just, I was just pulled. Yeah. Yeah. Now you grew up in New York city, right? So that's, I mean, you know, there's a lot of comedy there to be seen. I mean, were you going to clubs when you were young? I did. I remember I went to Caroline's with a fake ID and I saw a Patton Oswalt and was like, Oh my God, he was really cool. I remember I lingered after the show and tried to talk to him and he was really cool. And now I know him a little bit and he's, and he's still really cool. uh yeah you know yeah i remember he said i said i

don't know what to do and he was like do an open mic if you if you want to do this which i'm sure he got that 900 000 times a year so the fact that he took a second and then he was like if you email me i'll email you back and he did and i did and he did and uh yeah i saw him i saw david tell which was insane i mean like seeing a tell was one of the things where you're like oh i didn't know comedy could be this yeah yeah yeah uh i saw bill burr i saw so many good uh i remember saw chris rock so many great comics uh so yeah i definitely i never went to the comedy cellar because I think I always knew I wanted to do this, and I was too intimidated to go to the comedy cellar. Because there was a chance that you could get on stage there, you mean? No, no, no.

I think I was just, it was like the mecca to me. I just thought, I knew it was where all the great comics hung out, and I was too intimidated. Yeah, yeah. Well, you go there now, though, don't you? Oh, I worked there. now you're above it. Ugh, fuck that place. Now I'm, like, annoyed by it. Now I'm like, ugh, I guess I'll.

No, it's my favorite place. I love the Comedy Cellar. And, but when I was, like, 18, yeah, I was too, I was like, this is, I just want to, I don't know, there's something about it that made me nervous. I don't know. Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, did you have any, you weren't born in New York City, though, were you? I was, yeah.

Oh, you were? Okay. Yeah, yeah. But your mom and dad split up kind of early, right? Wasn't that – Well, my mom – You don't have to talk about it. Yeah, yeah.

I have jokes. I did a joke about it on Conan where I say people ask if my biological father was a good person. I said if he were, I wouldn't refer to him as my biological father. That was a bit I did on Conan. So I don't talk to him. But then my mom married a guy when I was like seven who's my dad, who's a great dad. He's like the best. He's a great dad.

And my mom's a great mom. So I'm very lucky. But it's tough. You want to do bits about that because it's it's unique and it's funny and i find it funny but then sometimes you hear a crowd going like oh and you're like no it's like i think it's funny i'm the one who should be on yeah yeah but uh yeah i did a lot of i actually did i think my first conan said i did a couple jokes about it because i was like this is like you always kind of do like the autobiographical stuff early on. Yeah.

And then later on, you're kind of like, well, here's how I feel about this. Right, right. You get tired of your own story, too. That's the thing I find. You get tired. You run out of stories, too. Yeah. It's like anytime someone's all like a friend, be like, you ever do a bit about this?

And you like grab them and you're like, what was it? Tell me. I don't remember. This is a story. Yeah. Yeah. Did you? oh and i was just gonna say you grew up in a blended family then right i mean yeah my my step i have a

stepbrother and a stepsister yeah my dad's side but you know my dad uh is a lawyer and he legally adopted me that was like so we went to like a courtroom yep and i had this i did the same thing i would yeah my uh mom's second husband adopted me and my brother so that because she was going to have more kids and she wanted us all to have the same name and you know my dad my how old dad agreed uh nine eight nine something like that i was yeah i was seven i remember my last name was uh greenberg so i remember like you know uh practicing to spell morale i couldn't it took me a while as a kid you know yeah yeah i did a weird thing where you know i was i had been andy richter and then uh

my mom was getting married to this guy who i you know i, I liked and knew, I mean, as my, you know, I mean, but it still was kind of like, oh, there's this guy and oh, I guess she's going to marry him. And now, oh, they're changing my name. And my full name is Paul Andrew Richter. And it was going to change to Paul Andrew Swanson. And I was going to go to a new school for third grade, starting in third grade. And so I guess I was seven. I guess, yeah, I guess it was more like seven or eight. But I decided that Andy Swanson didn't sound good. I thought Paul Swanson sounded good. So I even changed my first name. So I started a new school to be Paul Swanson. You should have committed a crime, man. You got a whole other identity.

be paul swanson you should have committed a crime and a whole other identity well the problem is is that two years later my mom and stepdad moved into my grandfather died and they moved into their house so i went back to my original hometown went to school and i'm like i'm paul swanson these kids are like no you're not you're andy we remember you we you know we went to kindergarten through second grade with you. It's Andy. I was like, all right, fuck. Because I was always Andy at home. But it was so obvious in retrospect that I was trying to just maintain a slight bit of control over all this shit. Like, you're going to change my name.

Well, I'm going to change my name, too. Look, I'm doing it. Like, I have some agency in this. Because it can be, I mean, childhood mean childhood to me looking back on it so much of it is just like feeling like you got no control everybody in the world can fuck with you like every adult can tell you what to do you know yeah and then you know and then now i feel like i have too much control now i'm like i need someone to tell me what to do this is like because if i don't then i just say yes to every gig i i mean, I haven't taken a weekend off since April. I just kind of can't say no to work.

Is that because of COVID you think, or is that just general sort of. I always liked doing the road and cause I could just get more work done. But yeah, I am sure once, once they said clubs were doing not half capacity or 30% capacity, I was kind of like book out my whole year i don't want to yeah i don't want to not be i mean covid was terrible that was yeah that was a crazy when you say on the road you get work done do you mean you get stage time and get paid for it or do you mean you get jokes written or something both okay because really what is it about being on the

road that helps you right is it are you writing on your feet while you're doing a set? Yeah, because when I'm in New York, I'll do 15-minute sets, you know? But you don't really do longer sets when you're home. But then when you're, you know, say I'm going to Springfield, Missouri this weekend, they're going to let me do six hours if I want. There's nothing else to do in that damn town. No, so you'll do like, I'll do an hour at least on those shows. I feel like if I do less than an hour else to do in that damn town. No, so you'll do like, you'll do like, I'll do an hour at least on those shows.

I feel like if I do less than an hour, I'm kind of cheating myself. Yeah. I'm like, because I'm like, this is time I should be working up here. Right, right. Can't you tell my loves are growing?

Is an hour easy to do at this point? Yeah, for sure. Because, you know, I used to do the clubs, and now it's more people coming out for me, but when I did the clubs early on, they'd be free tickets, so they had no investment in the show. Yeah, sure. They're on their phone, they're kind of spacing out,

and you're just up there like, I worked hard on these, but they're not good. Right, right, Yeah. You know, it's like comedy. It's weird that you like work hard honing these jokes and you're just telling them next to like a Dave and Buster's strip mall. It's just, it's a weird thing. Right. It's like, I mean, it keeps it from being unpretentious, right? Cause you can't really be like, I'm better than this. And like, really, we just, we walked in with a Cinnabon. You're not better than us. And you're like, really? We just, we walked in with a Cinnabon. You're not better than us. And you're like, that's true. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It keeps you humble. Yeah. What helped you power through the early, because I've kind of dabbled in standup just because I've been around for long enough and there've been things where they said, go out there. And I stand there for 10 minutes, but I do not consider myself one.

And I, and I still, like, I've been hosting a show here locally that I'm going to try and kind of just basically like a showcase kind of thing that I'm going to try and make something up. But it involves me sort of emceeing, you know, and sort of like doing 10 minutes at the top, which I, you know, I'm used to to i'm used to doing shows where it's like oh yeah i'm gonna go do this show and it'll be about an hour and a half and i but i don't i have nothing prepared i'll just go out there and fuck around and react to someone else but when i'm out there by myself there's no one to react to i gotta come with stuff you can talk to your crowd though

i mean i bet you'd be good at that yeah i mean there i i i that was something that occurred because this last one like went a little too long. And I was kind of like, maybe I should just because I mean, I used to do early in the Conan years. I made I would make side money by doing college dates that were basically like, you know, fan things. You know, I would show bits from the show, outtakes from the show, talk about the show. And then, but mostly it just became Q and a, cause that was like the most fun for everybody.

But then you find that certain lines, they would keep asking and you'd have a, like a plan bit for kind of, Oh, absolutely. Oh no. That, you know,

will you ever win a staring contest? You know, it's like that people and everybody thinks, you know, everybody thinks they're David Sedaris has this great part in the story where he talks about being in one of those kind of, you know everybody thinks they're david sedaris has this great part in the story where he talks about being in one of those kind of you know like uh taxidermy stores that has like bones and shit and there's a big dish of glass eyes and there's a sign that says do not hold the glass eyes up to your eyes there are sharp edges on the back and you may

hurt yourself and he said he was just about to do it he was just about to put those glass eyes up to your eyes there are sharp edges on the back and you may hurt yourself and he said he was just about to do it he was just about to put those glass eyes up to his eyes and think like haha look how funny i am and literally everyone does that to the point where they have to warn them against it and it's that you know everyone thinks they're they have this clever question and it's like you know and i mean it, it's hard to, you know, you feel like a dick because you feel your soul die when you've been asked the same thing a thousand times.

And, you know, and- It feels like you're reading from a script. And like, we get so, I think we get so bored easily. Like, I think so many comics have drinking problems because A, it's just right there every night. You're working at a bar. But then also you see some of them are just, they get bored. I think comedians are easily bored.

And when you're telling the same jokes, that's another reason you've got to do new material or you'll just become a drunk. Yeah, I can't imagine the people that, like, the real, you know, like, old old salts that kind of doing the same thing they've been doing forever that works. But, you know. But it's but it's with where's the fun in that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, part of the fun of comedy is that you could fall on your face. That's kind of it's kind of exciting that this could go horribly. Right, right.

Well, but that's but back to the question. I mean, what helped you because you obviously got up there and it was rough in the beginning it just has to be i mean you you know a community of friends i think like a lot of my friends who i'm still friends with now you know they're doing great uh you kind of gravitate toward people that are that you think are funny and that and that that I found were, were pretty driven. And I, I like being around that energy of people that really treated this like a job. And, you know, I have all these friends and, and, and it's cool. So many of them were,

I've been on Conan too, which is so cool. Yeah. Mark Norman, Joe Mackey, uh, you know, so many of those New York, uh, comics, Joe list, uh, Rachel Feinstein. I mean, of those New York comics, Joe List, Rachel Feinstein. I mean, so many New York comics who are just, they're great comics. And we just formed a support structure for each other that, yeah. At the open mics, I needed like a buddy. I needed someone to go with. I said, you make friends with them. Because at least if you go with one person, you know, one guy's listening, you know, because those, I remember one of my best friends to this day

is a comic who's actually done Conan too, Gary Veeder, a great joke writer. We do the road together a lot. And Gary, I remember was at an open mic at a place called Maui Taco and I'd never met him. And he's just on stage. He got great i noticed he had great jokes i noticed it like even then i was like these are really clever jokes but no one's laughing no one's listening and i just start scribbling on my own notepad and he just looked at me spacing out during one of his jokes and during his set and he goes this asshole's not paying attention and i never met the guy and i was like shit so like in my head. So the next night I see him, I produced a show with another comic

and Gary was doing a set on it. And Gary looked at me and he goes, I'm sorry. It was open mic shit. And I was like, nah, I totally get it. Right, right, right. Like if you don't snap at those mics every once in a while, you're not really doing them enough. Right.

And you gotta use everything, you know? I mean, somebody if somebody. Yeah. If somebody falls down, you're not going to ignore it. You know, and that's somebody sitting there writing in a notebook while you're telling jokes. Well, you're going to say like, hey, hey, Poindexter, what are you doing? Your homework? You know, you should you should snap. And like, yeah, you know, I hear people now being I see people posting stuff like, you know, comedians have a social responsibility to speak out. I'm like, hey, these guys got good telling jokes in bars. Like these are not, these are not world leaders here that you're talking about. These are social misfits and fuck ups who somehow fell ass backwards into a career.

These aren't, these aren't politicians, you know? ass backwards into a career these aren't these these aren't politicians you know so you also might not want to know what they what they think about current events you know sure yeah yeah so you know uh gary was another i mean you do those mics and yeah occasionally i mean i remember you you the the bad gigs stick out to you the ones where people hate you i remember i would tell jokes that were like kind of dark and if those didn't work back then they didn't just not find me funny they hated me i remember the crowds like now are you not good at this i dislike you right right and i'd be like well i just think this is funny this isn't who i am yeah yeah so you have those rough sets i remember like working the door at this club called broad Comedy Club for a while and uh they throw you on stage

sometimes and I just remember I was wearing like ratty shitty clothing I'm sure and that was like the guys heckling me about my clothes and I'm just like I mean I'm a kid like what do you want I was like 21 you know yeah yeah and uh and it got to the point where I was like dude shut the fuck up you're trash I just start like going after him and he gets up and I'm like, oh, crap. And he just starts walking toward the stage and I hear and I'm like, oh, crap. Nails me right in the chest. Spits right on me. The waitresses were like trying to barricade the stage so he wouldn't kick my ass.

Yeah. They all like me from just working the door and just chatting. Sure. Sure. So but it's all these sassy Latino women who were just like, you're not going to get Sammy. And I've never felt more emasculated. And of course the guy is like, you know, had the energy.

Like I was just, clearly this guy's done shit like this before. He got thrown out with his girlfriend. She didn't even seem phased by it. Yeah. And yeah, I mean, you remember those dates. You remember the gigs where you're like, this is humiliating, but it's like a drug. You think of you're chasing the highest point where you're like, well, it's how about this best time I had Colin Quinn. He once said you get just enough not to quit.

And I relate to that so much. Yeah. Yeah. Just when you're like, I should quit. You get some bone, like some comedian you like is like, oh, I like that new joke. And you're like, I should quit. You get some bone, like some comedian you like is like, Oh, I like that new joke. And you're like, Oh, okay. I should do this. Like when you're desperate, you take anything as a sign. Yeah. That little taste that keeps you going. Yeah. When, at what point did you start thinking you were going to do this? Well, I remember, I mean, were you a funny kid and were you thinking like, I want to

perform, you know, I mean, you know a funny kid? And were you thinking like, I want to perform? You know, I mean. You know, you have those friends who think you're funny, but that doesn't mean you're a professional. They're your friends. They already like you. So you kind of have those friends who are like, you really love comedy and you're funny when we hang out.

You make funny jokes. But then also you think like, what are jokes with friends? How many of them are like inside jokes? They're like cheat codes to get laughs. They're not real. And then you go on stage. I remember I did a thing at my high school. We had to do community service and then do a report on it. And we had to do it for the whole school when we graduated.

So I did my report and I just turned into a standup routine and it killed, like it really, but they all wanted me to be funny. So that's the thing. So like it went really well. i you know then was like i should do open mics and holy shit did i bomb like it was like it was like earth shattering we were like wow i'm not that good at this it was one of those things and then i did a show at the comic strip uh like a show where all my friends came out and i i did really really well, but even then I was like, I'm not that good. I knew I wasn't that good. I mean, you think, and I thought I was better than

I was, but now looking back, I'm like, man, I was pretty, I knew how to write jokes, but they were just not very good jokes. So my friends were like, oh my God, this is amazing. But then I remember I bombed a fryer's club roast. I was 21 and I auditioned to do a Friars Club roast. And I was, you know, I was flyering on the street, hand out flyers, you know, sometimes for money, sometimes for stage time. And I got addicted to it because at the open mics, I would be bombing for my peers who, as I said, half the time, aren't paying attention kind of form clicks. And I, I didn't, you know, I had friends there, but I didn't like the vibe. So I started handing out flyers and I would do you flyer for a couple hours and then they throw you on for real people. So I was like, this is what I want to be good. So many comics were,

there was like the club scene and the alt scene in New York. And I was so much more attracted to clubs because you got money. So I was kind of like, well, this is like, this is leading to a career to me. So, uh,

I remember I do those and they would get better and better. And I, then I started doing, so the Friars Club roast, by the way, I auditioned and I killed. It was one of the things where I was like, Oh,

this is I'm fucking, I might be like a roasty comic maybe. Who knows? And it went really well. And then I, the prize was you get to do a roast at the Friars Club. So it was hosted by Paul Mooney, RIP, the legendary and hilarious Paul Mooney. And intimidating, like terrifying even. Terrifying.

And he really was funny, but he really was phoning this shit in. So we're roasting Omarosa from the apprentice slash Trump's cabinet now. But back then it was the apprentice. And she's there. She's there. Oh yeah. And she's like a very intimidating. She's a beautiful,

intimidating woman. And Rich Voss did a set, all these funny New York comics that sets. I bombed so fucking hard to the point that it was it was chilling like i but i remember being up there like i'm doing my whole set so i which i thought was like noble but looking back i'm like i just like tortured myself for no i could have gotten off early and been like i did like six seven minutes of bad jokes bombing yeah and rich voss i still remember his first line going on after me.

He bombs a line and goes, you fuckers better laugh or I'm bringing Sam back up. And it killed. And it was, and I remember the video started circulating online. The Friars Club thought it would be funny to like post these videos.

I'm like, guys, this is the first video that comes up for me. And I'm trying to get work as a young comic. It's like 21. Yeah, yeah. I remember kids I went to high school with, a young comic. It's like 21. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I remember kids I went to high school with, it's like, they're like passing it around. Like this guy sucks. Like he thinks he can do comedy. And, uh, and then of course they're saying people now are like, Hey, do you have any extra tickets? I'm like, I remember what you did. And sure.

Who gives a shit, but, uh, cause you're just grateful they came around in all honesty, but, but you know, yeah, that hurt. But then when I started really working was like I was like 23 and I did a competition at in Atlanta called The Laughing Skull. I was 23 or 24 and I did. I was working here or there before that. But then like here or there, you mean working out of town getting you know like yeah occasionally bookings kind of things occasionally but then i was really in the city i was actually already working carolines in the strip the comic strip carolines was good to me early on they were good to a lot of young comics uh is that a living though or do you have to kind of well i was like

i was tutoring on the side but it was like part-time. It wasn't like, yeah, I was making, I was still tutoring after I won this competition a little bit, but what really was a game changer was I did a competition in Atlanta called, so I did three competitions that year and they all kind of weirdly changed things for me.

One was, because my style was very good for competitions because a lot of them would be like one minute go and you just have to kill in one minute. And and I had short jokes. So it was like I would quickly kill. So that would that would help me a lot. And now, you know, you get older, it gets really hard to do short sets because you're like, what do I do? I don't know. But, yeah, I did one at Caroline's called March Madness, which was like it was bracket style, like brutal. Like one comic sits in the stool.

The other one goes up. I called it Eight Mile for Jews. That was my opener. And we'd go against each other. And it was like great comics in this thing. Like so many great like New York City city comics like shang wang was a killer uh mike lawrence uh dan soda uh all these great comics and i remember so i did comics was the other club i did theirs i ended up winning that one so that was like that was out of like the 64 comics that get selected i won that so that was like okay you can work our club and then the club like lasted another year.

It was great all those years to get into the club. And they're like, oh, we're filing bankruptcy because we haven't paid Bobby Slayton or any of the comics who work here. So that hurt. And I remember I was pleading with them. I was like, please let me open for Greg Giraldo. He's my favorite comic.

And they're like, oh, it's already booked. And I was like, but the prize was you could pick whoever. So that hurt too. Yeah, yeah. And then, it's already booked. And I was like, but the prize was you could pick whoever you, so that hurt too. Yeah, yeah. And then, so I won that, but that did help for a while because just working the club, getting, like, it gave you some credibility in the scene to get booked around a little bit.

It gave me a good tape. And then Caroline's, I made the final two. I lost to Dan Soder, who was a freaking murderer. Like, he was so tough to beat because we both kill, but he went second and he got a huge laugh out of the gate, like riffing on me.

And you're like, damn it. He's just sitting there watching a comic because you're on the stool watching behind them. You're like, God damn, he's funny. So it was cool. And also too, that people eat that up, you know, like that, you know, or a callback. People are like, yeah. It was cool. And also, too, that people eat that up, you know, like that, you know, or a callback. People are like, yay!

But he had great material, too. Soto was just like, he just had, he's still one of the funniest people I know. And it was a cool night. We just got hammered together. And he was like, I won, so I'm buying. Oh, that's nice. Yeah. And then Norm MacDonald was weirdly in the crowd.

He was just hanging out. And I remember Norm came up to us afterwards and we were obviously huge fans and we're young comics. And his first line of memory was like, man, that's terrible what they make you go through up there. It's like improv. They take you out back and fuck you in the ass.

And we just kind of like looked at each other like, yeah, we're like, it's Norm, just agree.'s norm we're talking to norm so he told us he was so cool he hung out with us for a long time and just chat with us and uh so that was big and then the one that was really big for like making a career at this was i won a festival in atlanta called laughing skull and to be honest i think i did, I think I had the second best set. I don't think I should have won. To this day, Tom Simmons, I thought had a better set than I did.

But it was three rounds. You had to make the top two in every round to keep going. He had to do different material every set. So it weeded out some of the weaker acts or the people that who could, who had a little. But I mean, remember one guy ran out of material in the last round and he was like my husband's dying and everyone's like oh and he's like but he's gonna make it damn it and they all started applauding i was like this is bullshit

this is yeah i mean it's unfair that his husband's dying also right but you know yeah uh but but what's that got to do with anything it got ugly yeah. Yeah. And then we, and then I had a good set, but this one guy, Tom Simmons, who's like a road dog. I thought he had a better, he crushed. And I won. So it felt good to win. But in the back of my head, I was like, ah, I think he should have won. But then the prize was a year worth of road work. So they were like, we've contacted clubs that are participating.

That's so weird. And they were like, we will get you a feature, an opening date at the A rooms and a headlining date in the B and C rooms. And to me, I was so excited to headline the shitty rooms. I was kind of like, I didn't have an agent or a manager.

I would email clubs every, I would do email subject heading booking and then just Google search them every 10 days and follow up every 10 days to be like, just following up. I'd love to work your club in whatever capacity. And I would sell these shitty t-shirts about a joke I had and that would be extra dough on the road.

Sometimes I would make more in the shirts than I was getting paid by the club. But it was great because I really, you know, the one negative to headlining bad rooms is it gives you a little bit of hack on you. Like I definitely had some road stink on me where I think it was one of the things where you're like, oh, you get trapped in these bad rooms. You're not performing for comedy fans. So you kind of start catering to whatever it is it takes to survive yeah so then i i got lucky and i would open for comedians on the road you know people like you know gary goldman uh who's a great comic would take me out and uh who you know you just watch that guy he's such a wordsmith so that that was helpful. People like Dave Attell,

who, you know, took me out and was, I mean, Dave's like a Jedi. So you're just, he would put you in situations that were terrifying, but he knew he was making you better. I think he would just get bored on stage. So he would bring, he would bring you out and just force you to riff with him. And you're like, I feel like a nine-year-old trying to play hoops with Michael Jordan. I felt like I had no right to be up here but what's amazing about Dave is that if you miss a line he'll save you it's it's really incredible so he keeps the show great no matter how bad you are and then slowly you find ways to get your laughs and yeah and he he knows what he's doing he's bored up there because he's he's kind of just too smart. Cause he's a machine too.

He just like, that guy has always just been somebody that you just feel like could stay up there for eight hours and really miss a beat, you know, just constantly, you know, did you ever, his old show insomniac?

It's incredible. I mean, it's really like, it's one of the best things I've ever seen. Yeah. Well, Bourdain show is kind of like a more urbane version of insomniac. It's incredible. I mean, it's really like, it's kind of what- It's one of the best things I've ever seen, yeah. Well, Bourdain's show is kind of like a more urbane version of Insomniac. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Insomniac's like this grungy, amazing- Yeah, just Dave Attell wanders around late at night.

Like, that's the concept. It's incredible. And just, you know, talks to maniacs. And it was such a good show, yeah. Dave is maybe my favorite comedian ever i would say i mean he's i've learned so much from that guy i just love him and uh i remember one time opening for him we were driving back from a gig in tarrytown new york and uh he's he murdered he got a standing ovation of course he's in a terrible mood we're driving back and he was like i'm a hack i fucking

stink he's calling himself a hack and then i said d, we all think you're the best comic we've ever seen. And he goes, well, I'm funnier than you guys. I mean, he's he when I was living in New York city, we used to be around each other all the time. Um, and he was, you know, and he is like, cause I mean, there's some standups that aren't particularly like they don't play well with others. You know, like there are some that are just like, they're, they're, they're not that friendly to be honest. And he's always, you know, he's just a Prince. He's really a sweet guy he's always been really cool so yeah it's it's it's awesome when it works out that way can't you tell my loves are growing well what was it about the atlanta thing was it just to just legitimize you in some way well it gave say you won this deal? It made me working.

I knew I wanted to be a road comic because I knew, I just looked at the comics I liked and I was kind of like, how do they get good? And it was because they were always on the road and they were always getting, it makes you write because you're doing an hour on the road. You don't want to be doing the same material. You'll go crazy. So you start taking chances and writing and you know if the show dips for two minutes in between an hour no one's gonna notice so long as you are strong around

those dips and uh i'd see what those guys were doing i was like what's it's the road and i think this will like i can make it i can make a note i can make a living not a great living but you know i was still doing some like side tutoring stuff but I was definitely working, and that felt cool. It felt cool to be like, oh, I'm a working comic. Even if these gigs suck, it felt cool to be like. But I will tell you, you get a shorter fuse. When you're dealing with drunks all the time and you're playing these crummy rooms where the crowd doesn't respect you and they don they don't police the rooms and people will just like yell out, you suck.

You kind of, you, you get it. You almost become like, you almost kind of turn on people before they should be turned on sometimes. And that's something you have to manage. And I'm spoiled with the rooms I play now.

I feel like every club is so good now that I just, I really don't take it for granted. Cause I did, I've done the road for a long time now so it's i'm i am really grateful for every good crowd yeah yeah and it is like it is you're you know you're trying to give your best to people who are at their worst you know sometimes exactly and it just of course like that's you know and also. Exactly. And it just, of course, like that's, you know, and also too, I mean, what do you do about the loneliness of the road? I mean, did that ever get to you or,

or did you, was there enough camaraderie that you could kind of. Well, you, you get a rotation of friends who are also on the road who you call, you get, you know, I I'm close with my mom. My mom will call me a good amount. I'm, i'm in a relationship so we we talk a lot and yeah you know and uh you have friends it definitely i i kind of don't mind being on my own sometimes i feel like i don't get enough alone time so i kind of like i kind of like the isolation i i like i feel like jokes come out of that loneliness so sometimes when you embrace it instead of fear it it can be good for your act but i definitely i i think i just like the road it's it's weird i don't like the travel i don't like the

the discomfort and and but i i love it's kind of like just you hate the gym but you like the finished product you know right right right which i i, I get why people are obsessed. You see, you look at like the rock and you're like, Oh, like, yeah, you, maybe you just learned to love the shittiest parts of the gym. Right. And you kind of have to learn to love the, you find the road tolerable. You get yourself a good neck pillow, you get Delta lounge access and you make the most of it. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that, cause to because to me i mean my project and i'd be like what would i do with those other like 23 hours in the day you know i mean it but but it's right really really yeah yeah because think about it you're you're uh you're on the road you're gonna find some breakfast cafe get some coffee that's what like i wake up late sometimes because i'm

working yeah late in the night so then that can take an hour and a half yeah yeah you go for you know the hotel's got a pool maybe i'll swim some laps or something i don't know that you got you call a friend you go over notes i mean the day's gone i feel like i've got enough hours in the day i feel like it flies by which is what lazy people say right exactly exactly no but i mean shit shit, that's, you know, if you, you know, productivity is just a feeling. It's like, you know, I mean, cause it's what, okay, fine, whatever. Um, and is that, is that kind of like what, where you want to be? I mean, is where you are now sort of, I mean, do you have anything like kind of wider than this that you're, that you're looking at? I worked on an animated show that i

really wanted to make that no one bought so that was another goal i had i i worked on a show with uh with dana gould that we created and it was like i think he's so funny so it's so cool to work with him and uh no one bought it but i think i think we'll make it someday and that's that's another goal but the truth is i always kind of wanted to be a road comic because I think you just see with, with writing jobs, I was always just scared of like, well, I'm at the mercy of whether someone will hire me for a show. Whereas I can kind of control this a little more. Like you talked about control. I mean, stand up is kind of, you're on your own. I mean, there's so many team sports. This is kind of like, you almost, there's like a solo sports, like tennis kind of like, you almost, this is like a solo sport.

It's like tennis or golf. You're like, well, if I fail, it's on me. If I do well, it's on me. And I kind of like that about it. I like that I have to, yeah, I just liked that I can control a good amount of this and how much I work and when I take off and I like,

do you take like, do you, cause this kind of life, this is like, you know, this is like offshore oil rig work. You know what I mean? I mean, does do like, is there like a house in the suburbs? Is there a family, you know, in your future? Do you think, or. Oh, I suburbs would be really hard for me. I just, well, but you know what I mean? But anyway, you know, like, but like a family and you know and like a house with kids or you know i would yeah i would like that yeah uh i would like to stay in in the city but uh yeah i think uh someday uh i think it's you want to when you do that stuff you want to you want to bring the heat

you want to be a good parent you want to be a partner so yeah you know i'm in a relationship and and who knows what the what the future holds with that you know she's a comic too she's very busy so actually her episode of this podcast is on this week oh nice yeah yeah yeah just she's a great comic and she's just dropped today as they say you know so yeah well so that's i mean that is yeah i think i don't want to be like like, look, everything's got to be right. I'm not one of those people, like, I need, I'd like a kid someday. I think it'd be cool. I think, you know, you run out of material, could be a good source or something.

Right, right. You can always just swipe one out of a park, too, if you really get desperate for one. There should be an app for that right there. You know, you really get desperate for one. There should be an app for that right there. When I started, people that complain about like having kids, you know, like people's, like they'll be like, oh, you really know, like a comic is done for when they start doing material about their kids. But it's like, listen, these things. The most relatable thing.

You're right. Ray Romano really blew it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. like that was like what popped louis is right right i mean so i mean or tom papa you know like he does a lot of amazing stuff yeah but it is a great example though because i don't have kids and i'm not married but i would yeah i love tom's material so much yeah yeah and yeah and he's pretty much yeah he does road stuff actually he's his his uh his kids go to the same school as my kids so we you know we see each other at school shit so like it's a good example of like there's a you know a successful touring comic that you know has got the got that life down so it is possible you know for sure it's. And he's, he's a, he's a machine too.

He's a guy that like, I'll, I'll listen to someone like Tom Papa when I can't write because, um, we're so different, but I, I love, it's funny. People always think you want to listen to people who are just like you. And it's the exact opposite. Cause I don't want to, I don't want to write. I don't want to have one of their jokes pop in my head, but with Tom, he's talking about marriage and kids. It's just, his formula is so jokey. Yeah. And, and he's so polished.

I love his type of comedy. I really, he's really, he's a great standup. Well, he also too, a lot of the stuff it's, it's observational and the text of it,

like somebody else could say the exact same thing and it would be fine, you know, but like he says it and it's really fucking funny. I mean, it just has that gift. Yeah. He's awesome. Yeah. Well, so beyond that, beyond the animated show, I mean, do you have, you know, where do you like, where do you want to be in 10 years?

Do you think, you know, I love I would love to just be doing this like on a higher level you know but yeah yeah yeah i also you know i don't know i love there's i have a lot of interest i love i used to have a sports show and i i love interviewing athletes because i just love i love basketball so much i'm a huge fan of that but then you know i love i want to write a film noir someday i love old school 40s noir i want to write like a i someday. I love old school forties noir. I want to write like a, I don't think any of them ever make money, which is maybe part of my draw to it,

but I love those old timey, like forties, fifties, like Otto Preminger, Fritz Lang type of noirs. I think they're so cool. I, I just,

I don't know. I think that the animated show I think could be something really cool. So I hope someday we get to revisit it. But, uh, you know, I think you just, for me,

it's like staying busy is, is good for me. I like that. Yeah. Yeah. What happens when you, when the activity falters? What?

I think the comics that hang out too much are like, you know, they get caught up in the, in the comedy drama a little too much of like this guy got that. And it's like, that's poison. I don't want to think about I want to think about my progress and my progress alone. And it's natural to be jealous or to look at other people's lives. But it's unavoidable when somebody gets something good. The first pang is envy.

And then you can feel good you know i mean unless it's somebody that's like you're super super close to sure but i i mean every time that somebody that i know gets something good there's a bit of me who does fine and has should have been me the one the super bowl yeah or whatever like i, I mean, I still, you know, from being on the, it just, it doesn't end because like, you know, I had a job for the last 10, 11 years and a really good job that I, you know, loved and liked the people in it and made a good living. And I still will see like a movie and I'll know like four people in and I'm like, how the fuck am I, why am I not in that fucking movie? Like I couldn't be the security guard. What the fuck? And it's, you know, you fucking movie? Like I couldn't be the security guard. What the fuck? And it's, you know, I have to talk myself down.

Like, take it easy. You know, when are you, you know, you can't go to, but you can, you can put yourself in positions to feel that less, you know? And I think, I think you can kind of check yourself when you feel a conversation, you have like a safe word in your head. You're like, oh, I feel like, uh, I'm feeling like we're going down a bad road here. Yeah. It's just for your own mental health and your sanity.

Yeah, yeah. You can be more sane is basically what you're saying. For sure. Be better adjusted. It's easy to let your mind wander on these road things. There's so much you have to do to be a comic. I feel like I have to put up so many clips of my crowd work and topical jokes just to keep people engaged. We all feel invisible on some level.

So you're like, well, this will keep people from forgetting about me. Let me put one of these up every two days, you know? So yeah, I don't know. I just try to avoid that stuff best I can. What do you think you know now that you didn't know when you were starting out? Like the most important thing that you've learned. It's just harder than you, that you think it'll be. It's just, it's, I think I got into comedy cause like I love comedy, but I was also a bit of a fuck up. And I, uh,

I was like, well, free, free drinks. If anything, I'll get free alcohol at the bar. So who cares in my, in my 18 year old brain, I'm like, well, who cares if I don't get health insurance? I get free vodka. Right, right. And I'm not even supposed to get that for three years. So yeah, yeah. Well, so I thought I was getting a deal. But then, yeah, but then I think I saw comics who really made a living at this, and I saw how hard they worked. And how, I mean, you brought up someone like Tom Papa, like Tom is very disciplined and Tom is very, uh, I feel like he has a great work ethic and you really need to look at like, there are comics, uh, who, who talked about treating their body like a pro athlete because of the road.

And because of just, that's going to take a natural toll on your body. Just like, I definitely, I have neck and back problems just from traveling every week. Sitting in airplane seats, yeah. I'm at that doctor early. I'm like, I'm a little young to be here, but that's just what it is when you travel all the time. Is it just like neck pain kind of things? I have a herniated disc and a slight tear and it's,

it's just, yeah, it's just really painful. Right. Oh, let's end on a high note. Yeah, yeah, it's just really painful. Right. Let's end on a high note. Yeah, yeah. Physical pain. Basically, it took an hour to get here, but things are bad, Andy.

Things are really bad. I'm addicted to pills. Oh, boy. Well, Sam, thank you so much for your time. Thanks for having me, man. For sharing. I really appreciate it. It was good to see you. No problem.

And everybody out there, I guess, you know, just you've got a website they can see. I have a website and I have a new documentary I'll call Full Capacity that I self-produced and self-released on my YouTube channel. And it's about COVID and comedy during COVID and how the clubs in New York, particularly the comedy cellar reopened. So many great comics are in it. You know, Taylor Tomlinson, David Tell,

Colin Quinn, Ray Romano, Sam Jay, Chris Rad from SNL. So many, so many awesome guests, guest spots. So people,

people are going to like it. It's really fun. Oh, good. We'll check that. I'll check that out too. So, yeah. Sweet. Well, thank you so much check that out. I'll check that out, too. Yeah, sweet.

Well, thank you so much, Sam, and thank all of you out there for listening. And we will be back next week with more of The Three Questions. Bye-bye. The Three Questions with Andy Richter is a Team Cocoa and Urolf production. It is produced by Lane Gerbig, engineered by Marina Pice, and talent produced by Kalitza 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.