WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 820 - Kumail Nanjiani & Emily Gordon / Jim Florentine

Episode Date: June 14, 2017

Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon are married. They also wrote the movie The Big Sick, which is based on their lives and in which Kumail plays himself. Marc also wrote an episode of television that was based on Kumail, only Kumail did not play himself. The three of them talk about the circumstances surrounding that situation and about the making of the movie. Plus, comedian Jim Florentine stops by to talk comedy, rock and driving Metallica around. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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forward take a closer look out at calgary economic development.com path forward. Take a closer look at CalgaryEconomicDevelopment.com. Lock the gates! All right, let's do this. How are you, what the fuckers? What the fuck buddies? What the fucksters? What the fucking ears, what the fuckabillies, what's happening, I'm Mark Maron, this is my podcast, WTF, welcome to it, welcome to the show. Father's Day is this Sunday, and I'm not a big one for holidays, certainly not those contrived holidays, but give them a call, will ya?

Give them a call. Time is running out. Appreciate your family, your friends, and food. And try to do the right thing for other people, for strangers. Be empathetic. Be open-hearted. Don't be a dick. Stay off Twitter as much as possible.

Get off of Facebook if you can breathe go enjoy a flower cook some things do some cooking yeah petted a cat that's the list for today hold on comedy store's calling me hello hey buddy what's going on Hold on. Comedy store is calling me. Hello? Hello? Hey, buddy, what's going on? Yeah, put me in for Saturday, both rooms. Thanks, man. The idea that I had about taking a break from comedy,

it doesn't seem to be happening. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. It's okay. Enjoy life if you can. Try to be happening. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. It's okay. Enjoy life if you can. Try to temper it. Stay involved. Do what you can, but don't let it destroy your entire disposition.

Is that all right? I got kind of a big show today, so I'm not going to ramble on too much. I'm going to talk to Jim Florentine, the comedian. I don't know. He just wanted to stop by and, I guess guess talk about rock music. So we did that. It was fun. He's like a metalhead. I'm not quite a metalhead but we meet somewhere in the middle and he was just hanging out and he wanted

to come over and it's always nice to see Jim. After Jim, Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon are here. Now they're married and they have a movie coming out. The Big Sick opens in New York and Los Angeles on June 23rd. It's going to expand on the 30th and throughout July, but this is a big movie. Judd Apatow produced it. It's about their relationship. Now, some of you know Kumail from Silicon Valley, from The Meltdown. I've known him for a long time.

He's been on this show before, but I don't know how many of you know that we had sort of a problem that was actually depicted in season three of Marin, episode one, two, three, four, five, Mad Mark, where I lost my shit on Kumail and Emily at the Meltdown here in Los Angeles. I just snapped and lost my shit. It was not good behavior.

It was a few years ago already. But I didn't know if we had cleared it up. So there's a little bit of that coming up also kumail is in uh is in our book waiting for the punch it's available now for pre-order wherever you buy books or at wtfpod.com but uh but this was a like kind of old school wtf in that i had to open with an apology and um and this is for years ago man and I wanted to make sure we were cool but I do remember being a little jacked up on caffeine I remember going to the Nerd Melt to do the Meltdown show and uh what happened I don't know

if I described this to you is that you know know, it's hosted by Jonah and Kumail. And, you know, I was waiting to go on. I had to be somewhere else. And they were going on and on. And I was losing my shit. And I got up on stage. And they got off. And I took a few shots, a few parting shots at the two of them.

And then I got off. And Kumail said, you know, you can't make fun of me on my show. And I think I said, you fucking baby. What a fucking baby, you fuck. And then I threw a shit fit, and I said I wasn't coming back. That's some grown-up shit right there. Dave Anthony witnessed it. It was not a shining moment for me.

And I held on to it for a long time and then when I decided to make it a storyline on Marin I asked Kumail if he would play himself and I had an intention there you know and I I'll get into that with him and you'll hear it and Emily his wife has always been nice to me

she's written on a few shows and she's to run the meltdown show. And we've always gotten along. So I felt bad that I behaved that way in front of her, but, um, I'm not sure if I'm not, I, okay.

Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm over it, but I, I think I behave badly. Whew. What?

I, you can't, I'm so what? There's still something wrong with me people. So Jim Florentine east coast fella funny guy and uh and again he just wanted to come by and i'm and i'm always happy to catch up with people i like uh his special a simple man is available on his website jimflorentine.com he's at the improv in pittsburgh this weekend and you can check his website for where he'll be in july and august this is me and jim florentine uh primarily talking about

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For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Be honest. When was the last time you thought about your current business insurance policy? If your existing business insurance policy is renewing on autopilot each year without checking out Zensurance, you're probably spending more than you need.

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What brings you to Los Angeles, home of heavy metal? Yeah. It's got to be metal-related, is it? No, I'm doing this benefit thing Saturday. MS benefit me, Bill Burr, and Craig Gass, the host, and a bunch of rock stars go off the jam. Yeah? It's a Richard Pryor oh okay ms thing but i

just come out to do stand up doing the improv and you know my management's out here yeah yeah and i get away from new jersey for a little bit yeah no i mean yeah i mean new jersey's pretty great but you got to leave sometimes absolutely yeah look i got a kid i'm at i'm making sandwiches in the morning you know i'm helping with his homework it's like i you know can you do that can you help with homework i barely i mean he's in kindergarten i'm having problems i haven't been in school in 30 years like maybe i don't know maybe 35 30 35 years 33 years so i have no clue i've been you know as your comic you just you know and i know you're out of that world oh yeah i was out of that world when i was in that world i don't if i had a kid and i had to go do algebra there's no fucking way i got an e

in algebra they made up a grade for me there's a charitable thing right but uh i can't i don't know how parents do it i thought i just talked to somebody about that recently i mean i stunk there's i'd be no help no i i just barely got by i did whatever i had to do to get by and now at kindergarten the stuff is sent home like this isn't done right like he'll say he's six he's like dad how do you do this i go i don't know really you don't know what kind of stuff is some of the stuff but now what's challenging well they haven't even got into the whole uh that common core math you know where they make it complicated to get to the problem i haven't dealt with that yet right which i will be soon right um what's

the kindergarten level that's challenging? It's just following directions. I'm not going to follow directions. You know, as a comic, we just march to our own beat. I don't listen to anybody. I'm my own boss. There's steps. There's like, you know, you got to read the first thing and then the next thing to get the other thing.

I don't read anything. When I get something new, I just kind of feel like I don't want to look at this pamphlet. Yeah, you just find the quick start. Yeah, exactly. Like, where is it? Just give me me the how do i turn it on and then i'll figure it out along the way so oh my god so but maybe this is a golden opportunity for you to learn these things finally do you ever look at it that way maybe it's time no no no i don't care what do i does the mom know what to do uh i don't know there's not a lot of communication there but he said he spends time with her right yeah yeah yeah we split it uh i don't know there's not a lot of communication there but he said he spends

time with her right yeah yeah yeah we split it but you don't know if she's got it yeah well i have them earlier in the week because you know as a comic i work on a weekend so i got them most of the homework week i got a monday tuesday wednesday and the thursday so i got a deal with it you have to put some money aside for a tutor there jim no i know i just had some new neighbors move in that um oh yeah that will definitely help yes right next door so i told them they seem smart to you oh yeah yeah yeah well they're indian oh so that means they're smart yeah i told them as soon as i met him i'm like god that's great that you moved here because i got a son i don't know how to do his homework so we're gonna be over here all the time they were laughing like god no problem that was that was

your hello that was my hello pretty much i'm like I'm like, hey, that's my firewood. You know, it's on your property. And I'm glad you're here because I got a six-year-old and I don't know how to do his homework. Oh, yeah, and feel free to take as much firewood as you need. Yeah. Well, I'm glad they laughed. No, no, they were totally cool about it, yeah.

What part of Jersey are you living? I'm in like central Jersey, about 45 minutes outside. It's near the Stress Factory Comedy Club. Oh, yeah, by New oh yeah by new brunswick yeah i grew up in that area yeah i remember you told me because i was born in new jersey something something draws me to jersey sometimes mentally like as i get older i feel like you know i need to go go back somewhere i need to know what my home i grew up in new mexico but like i'm born in jersey my parents from jersey i'm you know jersey genetics yeah and there's something about it that like kind of makes me want to go back. But then I really think about it.

I'm like, is that where you want to retire? Jersey? No, you probably don't. You probably don't. I was just out there. I talked to Springsteen. I interviewed Springsteen out down the shore. Yeah.

And it was kind of cool to be back in Jersey because I went to Asbury Park as a kid. My grandparents lived in an apartment building right on the fucking boardwalk practically back in the 70s. Yeah. Yeah, it wasn't that nice. No, it's nice now. They really fixed it up. Asbury's booming. Really?

Yeah, they're building high-rises, hotels. They've got great restaurants. No kidding. Yeah. I mean, Springsteen basically saved that city. They were ready to tear down the Stone Pony, Convention Hall, all of that stuff, but they made it landmarks. Convention Hall. Yeah, Convention Hall is still there where i used to go see concerts back in the day i mean it's a great little town and they got great restaurants now i remember that

was the first place i had soft shell crabs that's what i remember right i don't know why my grandfather liked him and i thought it was odd right eating the whole thing yeah probably and so when you come out here like who, who are the rock guys on tonight? Do you get to hang out with your heroes or what? Yeah, I mean, I know a lot of the guys that live out here. Yeah, like, you know, Rudy Sarzo, who played with, you know, Ozzy and Whitesnake and Wyatt Riott. I know Tom Morello.

I'm a huge Rage Against the Machine fan. Yeah, I've talked to him years ago. He's great, man. And he's an activist guy. Oh, yeah. He's involved with shit. Yeah. I should get him in here at some point. No, he's amazing.

And, you know, he played with Springsteen for a while, for like three, four years. It's an odd match. Yeah. It's an odd match. Like, he's one of those guys who's like, see, I've gone the completely other direction, but I was always sort of in this direction. I like straight-ahead guitar. I barely like to know there are pedals involved.

Right. Like, I like to hear the amp right up there. I don't like much compression. I need it to sound like a guitar. Yeah. That's just the way I am. But that's not the metal sensibility generally. Yeah.

I mean, yeah, that's true. But I always like a good guitar solo, too. Right. We missed them in the 2000s, late 90s with the new metal. There was no guitar solos. No solos. Where were the solos at? Even Metallica put a Nu Metal. There was no guitar solos. Where were the solos at? Even Metallica put a record out where there was no guitar solos. St. Anger.

Right. I talked to Hepfield about that. But I think that Rick Rubin produced ACDC album didn't even have many solos, if I'm not mistaken. A little one with Angus. But Angus is so good. He's 61 years old. I saw him twice on this last tour you did without malcolm yeah without malcolm and without without uh brian johnson i

saw him with axel how was that it was amazing axel phil the bon scott stuff he nailed i bet and they went back a deep in that a catalog you know really brian didn't sing with with uh like what uh like uh what did they, Riff Raff? No shit. They did Problem Child. Oh, that's good. Which I haven't done in a long time. With Axl.

Yeah. They do Let There Be Rock? Yeah, oh yeah. And that's when Angus goes crazy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, just like a 25-minute solo. That is guitar. Spinning on the floor.

Oh, 61 years old. 61. Did you see him when Axl was in the chair because of his leg? No, he was out of the chair by then okay yeah up and moving yeah i saw them with guns and roses when he was in the chair okay throne how was that it was amazing see that's the weird thing like i don't go to concerts hardly at all and i i probably should but um whatever the politics of why people do whatever whatever people were saying about axel you know playing with acdc or whether he needs money or he doesn't need money or whatever the fuck it is it's still got to be good he's great of why people do whatever, whatever people were saying about Axl, you know, playing with ACDC or whether he needs money

or he doesn't need money or whatever the fuck it is. It's still got to be good. He's a great singer. Yeah, I mean, they were, he's the one who called them, basically. They were auditioning singers. Brian, you know, had some hearing problems.

Right, I hear bad, right? Yeah, like one here, he can't hear out of one and the other one, he was like 70 or 80% deaf and his doctor basically said, look, if you do any more live shows, you're done.

You're going to have no hearing left. Right, right. So they were trying out different singers. And Axl was the one to call because he's a huge ACDC fan. He said, hey, if you guys need help, let me know. And they go, yeah, come down and audition. They didn't even think about him. Yeah.

He went down there and, you know. That was just for the tour. Yeah, for the tour. So who knows what's going to happen. They finished like the last 11, 12 dates. How many dates did Axl do with them? I think 12 man and we did some stuff over in europe too so he probably did 20 total and malcolm's done right malcolm's got dementia i mean it's 61 years old or 60 or something like that yeah he's in a home oh my god yeah that's too bad and malcolm ran the band

basically malcolm was the brains of the band so he's playing guitar over there his nephew stevie young oh yeah yeah there's another young brother and he filled in for malcolm malcolm had some like alcohol problems on a tour like in 92 years ago yeah yeah so he got off the tour for like 30 days and stevie filled in for him so he holds his own he holds his own yeah well you know rock star behavior in any sort of uh trend i don't know what you'd call it but that you know becomes everyone's under constant surveillance by just everybody you know what i mean like you know you have a party and all it takes is one guy or one chick to tweet something and the party's over yeah and then it's uh you know it's tabloid news you can't there's there's no it's not even big brother it's not

even law enforcement it's that asshole who is that asshole sitting in the corner with his phone that fucked everything up yeah a lot of times they make you check your phone in at the door at the party yeah the party so put them at the leave them at the door is that true oh yeah absolutely yeah because they don't want anyone taking pictures if you know i say axel's got a couple girls hanging all over him this guy's snapping pictures he's gonna sell the tmz he'll be on there the next day so you leave him at the prince what are the one of the harry or something like that was in vegas and he just let these girls take pictures that was a big scandal a couple years ago i think i remember jumping on a bed they were doing all drugs and shit like that and he was just like these crazy vegas chicks just take pictures of them and next thing you know they're all over the place yeah i i guess yeah

i guess the party's over i when i had my bachelor party, I had it in my friend's basement. He has a band. I hired a Black Sabbath tribute band to play. Yeah. And with like four strippers. And this was probably like seven years ago. I made an announcement. I go, let's pretend this is 1975. Nobody has phones.

Nobody's going on Facebook. Nobody's tweeting. And nobody's calling. Nobody's texting their wives, their girlfriends. Put your phones away. Put them upstairs. Let's just have a good time. I made that speech and it was it worked out yeah it worked

out yeah and nobody remembers anything nobody remembers anything there was nothing documented i'm like this is 1975 we don't even know if it happened exactly is that good a party yeah i don't want you i got my wife's texting me she wants to know what's going on none of that it was perfect have you been playing a lot i don don't play. My son does. Your six-year-old does? Yeah. How's he doing with it? He's doing great.

He's already sang on the Stone Pony on stage in front of 300 people. No kidding. He's an animal. Yeah. He's fearless. And is he playing electric? He's singing. He's playing a little guitar, drums.

He's good on drums. But he likes making up his own songs. Uh-huh. Yeah. Oh, that's exciting. Oh, it's great. Yeah. My nephew's got a band, so he goes up at the end,

he sings Let the Bodies Hit the Floor, this Drowning Pool song. And he goes up, I'll show you a video when we're done. It's really funny. He's an animal. That's a six-year-old song. Yeah, and then he loves the Stones,

so he loves Mick. He loves the way Mick moves. Oh, does he? Yeah, we go to music lessons every Monday, and there's always a video on of a DVD, and it was an old Stones video when he was watching. He's just laughing the way Mick moves

so then he goes in. I got a song and then he's dancing like Mick. He takes his shirt off too. He has to rip his shirt. He's like, it's cooler with my shirt off. Oh, you got the right kid, huh? I took him to Foo Fighters. He goes, Dad, I'm taking my shirt off.

It's cooler if I watch it with my shirt on. I go, of course. He's got his shirt off, yeah. Oh, you lucked out on that one. Oh yeah, it's great. Yeah, I got him into Sabbath. You got the right kid. yeah, it's great. Yeah, I got him into Sabbath. You've got the right kid. Yeah, it's awesome.

It's nice when a parent can bond that directly because a lot of parents, I think they get those kids who are like, where did this one come from? Yeah. Why does he like this stuff? Who is this kid? No, because even in the womb, I remember when my wife was pregnant at the time,

I'd be on the road. She goes, I don't feel him kicking. I don't know. She was all worried. And I'm like, just put some heavy metal on, some double bass, some Metallica, something like that. And she put it on. All of a sudden, he started kicking. I'm like, this kid's in the music already.

In the womb, he was kicking like a baby. Double bass in the womb. Is that true? Oh, yeah. I swear to God. I go, put Metallica on. Put it up to your stomach. Put Enter Sandman on.

And he would just start kicking away like he was just hanging and waiting for the music to kick in what do you think of that new metallica i love it i did too and i'm not a metallica guy it's great i had to get up to speed because i had hetfield in here and you know i didn't grow up loving it but you know i i mean i got it kind of but so i kind of went through the stuff and then like i listened to that last one i put it on in there and i'm like, this is solid. This is good record. It's great.

You know, just that these guys in the mid 50s, right. Still writing great music. Yeah. To which, you know, a lot of the people gave up on Metallica after the black album because they cut their hair. Like every guy with long hair got pissed when some guy cut their hair. I had long hair. Yeah.

You were getting mad. It's like, well, I got to go to court. Usually when you when you had a court date you had to cut your hair because even the ponytail wouldn't do so I remember cutting it because I had to go to court

and everyone so you do but then when they cut it they're like you sold out you sold out you cut your hair I'm like I don't care that they have short hair

yeah listen to the music you idiots but that's so after that people don't like there's a whole fan base that doesn't like them after the black album

well and the black album got really commercial right you know so they felt like they sold out but this record is great do you know them all do you know i knew him you know when growing up in new jersey in old bridge new jersey was um there was a record label called mega force records yeah this guy had a little shop in a flea market and he would sell heavy import heavy metal records and i was a little kid on friday when i got my paycheck i'd go down there all of us would go down there and the guy goes listen to this band listen to this band and he had this metallica cassette yeah no life to leather he goes i'm gonna sign these guys these guys in this big thing i've

heard this i'm like holy shit so then he brought metallica when they were nothing they didn't even have a record deal brought them to new jersey and they were staying at the guy's house yeah in the middle of the neighborhood and they were just drinking all those booze he just had a baby and he would call me he goes can you get these guys out of my house? Take them to the mall? So I'm driving Metallica around. And my mom's Zephyr at 17 years old. And they weren't showering. They drank their champagne from his wedding night.

They were saving that. They just cracked it open one night. Like, get these guys out of here. So I would drive them around. So I was hanging with them. And they would play these little clubs. You know, two, three nights a week. So I knew those guys right from the beginning and he's still

in touch with them yeah but they don't remember like i brought it up to lars he's like yeah i think so right right it's just like you know i want to comment you know you don't go up to come i saw you 15 years ago at the funny bone in st louis and you did a thing and we had a beer afterwards and you said that my girlfriend was hot or what oh yeah yeah i think i remember yeah yeah yeah i have a hard time remembering shit that happened a year ago. I know. So I didn't even want to go.

I did bring it up to him at one point, but I wasn't. That's too bad. I was that kid. That was probably one of a series of kids that drove them around

in some town. Well, then, because there was older dudes in the neighborhood, so then they had a house I was still living with my parents and then they would stay over there. Yeah.

My friend, who I'm still friends with to this day metallica was living in his house yeah and james hetfield one night got so drunk he puked in his bathroom yeah and he was trying to sell a house this was like three years ago and it was on the market for like a year and a half and he was just talking and that guy said he liked heavy metal he goes he goes metallica used to stay at this house because james hetfield threw up in that bathroom because he threw it right in that bag or shop he threw him up And the guy bought the house. Come on.

I swear to God. I swear to God. You put a little plaque there? He's like, that's how he sold it. When he told the guy, he goes, James Hetfield threw up in this bathroom right here. That was it. And he bought that. The guy's like, I'll take it.

That's a small, like what a lucky break, huh? It was. Yeah, just brought it up. Oh, who knew? That's fucking hilarious. So when you come out, do you go see shows? Sometimes. I'll see if there's something out here.

I'll go show. But I like to do sets. I like to do the comedy store. Oh, yeah. I go there a lot. I can see you over there. I've been on the road, so sometimes I'll just not work for a few days. Is that all right?

No, I do that, too. My son, I take early in the week off. I'm just like, I got it. At this point, it's like I can't, I can't obsess over it. Well, I mean, the thing is you go out and you're doing hour shows if you're headlining an hour plus or whatever. And you know, if you do four or five of those and you come home and you got three days or even five days, you're like, fuck it.

Am I really going to be out of shape in five days? I know. Is it all going to go away in five fucking days? Well, when you're younger, that's all you obsess about. You can't can't miss you know if you miss two or three nights you feel like you're off i think two weeks sometimes you get a little yeah there's a there definitely is i mean i did six shows last week in new york city it's like i didn't want to go out monday tuesday or wednesday to do set so the next set i'll do is tomorrow it'll be like five days but i was like enough i did six i'm like i'm done yeah right well yeah and it'll come it'll come back but there's that weird moment where if you if you get away and i've never

really gotten away long enough for it to happen but two weeks or if you do you know if you're only doing short sets and then you got to go headline then it's sort of like fuck can i do that no i know i know that that's always a problem because you do 15 minute sets yeah you're tight and you know you and you know you want to kill so you don't integrate as much new shit as you want and you can only really fucking spread out until you and when you get the hour and then like you know if you do too many of those sets and you haven't done an hour in a while you're like i don't fucking know if i have an hour anymore i lucky i have you know the iphone and the notes section i keep my whole full set in there yeah i have to look at it because i'm so used to doing the short sets yeah yeah yeah so like tomorrow at the improv i got to do a 45 to an hour so i haven't done that in

probably three weeks yeah a full set like that so i got to go back and look at the notes okay this is how i got to do it right how does it flow where's the direction where do i end what's the middle what's the end and what's the beginning what's the beginning what's the opening i know it's but i love the process i still love it to this i'm doing it since what like 91? I still love just coming up with new jokes and working on them and recording them and listening back. The only time you can do it is doing those hours, though. A lot of people think, I'm not a guy that, if I'm doing 15-minute sets, occasionally I'll do a new joke or two. But to really find out if something can live on stage, you've got to do it in the middle of the big set. Yeah, absolutely.

Right? Yeah. And then if you've been doing it long enough, if it falls you could be like well fuck it yeah no i i like i'm i'm at the point where i just did a full set i just filmed something so now i'm just going to these little restaurants wherever any little shitty place to do 45 minutes or an hour like we can only pay a hundred dollars to headline we don't have a i'm like that's fine yeah i just need really you're gonna play here i'm like yeah i'm like i'll do it yeah yeah and i'm doing this place like every three weeks by my house it's a restaurant there's a little place up where to have little weddings

oh they got a little room yeah a little room and they do comedy to like once a month so i'm doing like every three weeks that's what yeah it's the way to go i'm like just give me a hundred bucks i don't even care about the money and i'm just gonna do work out yeah that's great i used to do that here at a little theater like i just with five a $5 ticket, I donated to the theater, tell my fans and just like no expectations. I'm like, it's five bucks. Right. Yeah. I'm going to work through some shit.

If you want to watch that, you're welcome. But I can't guarantee anything. Yeah. Like Colin Quinn's working on a new set and he's doing it at the Peppermint Lounge, which is right by, you know, in the Village Underground. And I saw him last week or a couple of weeks he had his notebook out he was just looking at his notebook just him like on a stand yeah doing a long set he's working on a whole that's the only way to do it yeah like i don't know why we didn't think of that on a tuesday night right box that's what

i did tuesday nights yeah you know for a couple months you know hour two hours whatever just to riff through shit and i like i guess guys used to just do it on the road, but I think that's one of the reasons a lot of guys didn't ever build new material. You really got to just find a place where you can stretch out, where there's no risk of anyone getting mad. You know, lay it out at the beginning. Yeah, no, because people do get mad.

Sure. Well, if they pay 30 bucks, 40 bucks, and you come up half-baked, which I'll do. Right, yeah. But I know I'll save myself eventually. But Carlin used to do that. Carlin would go out and just work on the material in small theaters for a year and then go record it.

So he was doing it where he was taking a check. Because people would go see him. For a cheap ticket, though? I can't remember, but I know people would go see him. They'd go, man, he was terrible. It's like he was working on, like he just was disoriented up there, and he was all over the place. He wasn't getting a lot of laughs.

I'm like, yeah, well, he's working on a new set, but he would do it in the smaller theaters. Right, right. Yeah, I mean, that's the only way to do it. So what do you got going on? You got a special out for a while now, right? Yeah, I put one out in December called A Simple Man. Yeah, and what are you working on recording now?

You know, just working on a whole new set. You know, I just one out in December called The Simple Man. Yeah? And what are you working on recording now? You know, just working on a whole new set. I just recorded... With a plan? Yeah, well, I recorded... I did another special I filmed in January. It'll probably come out later in the year. What is the other one? On iTunes? Yeah, it's on iTunes, Amazon, wherever, you know. So you just self-released it? Yeah, I just self-released it. How's it

doing? It's doing great. Great. You know what I mean? At this day and age, if you could do it and you could finance it yourself and do it cheap. Yeah. You know, all the royalties that are coming in through, I mean, sound exchange. Right. Oh, sound exchange. That's the greatest thing in the world. It's unbelievable.

I mean, I got more play. I don't know how much play I'm getting, but you do to get those quarterly checks. Yeah. What? March 31st. Yeah. A new one's coming. Great.

It helps when you pay your taxes on April 15thth i just like the first what was your experience the first like the first time i got notified by them they'd already been around for like six or seven years yeah and they got this notification i'm like this sounds like bullshit what is this and i checked it through and it's a real thing so that first check was like a lot of money because it was like for six years and like what that's fucking amazing yeah because then they went back to like 2004 basically and went back and and you know and then if you own your stuff like i put these prank call cds out back in like 2001 to 2008 yeah they weren't even on a label i just put them out and whatever and you know between the internet and sirius and xm playing and stuff like that they went back and got, if you own the master, you got a royalty off of that too.

So that payout good? Oh, yeah. I'm like, holy shit. Who would have thought? Free money. Yeah. So every like three, four months. So even if you put out, you know,

you put out an hour material, even if you don't really make it back through whatever avenue, through iTunes, whatever like that, you're going to get it in the royalties. I'm hearing rumors that eventually, like the Spotify's and Pandora. We'll go through sound exchange and youtube well they go through but they pay like pennies right right it's but eventually they're going to have to start paying

like the real rate that yeah sirius is paying like their whole sirius held off on that for a long time too that's where we're getting those checks when they merge sirius and xm merged yeah party at merger deal it's like you got to start paying royalty so now you just pass it along to consumer you pay 150 extra a month right anyone does they got 31 million subscribers still yeah and it's just growing and growing so they pay everyone pays 150 a month to pay the royalties for the artists is it grown and grown are you on the air over there regular yeah i do a show on ozzy's boneyard a weekly uh radio show and how's that do for you it It does great. I get to plug my gigs.

They pay me shit. You go in the city to do it? No, I do it right from my house. Oh, really? And then you just upload it? Yeah, I just upload it. I just do five or six breaks in a two-hour show. What's the show? I pick my own set list.

It's on Ozzy's Boneyard. It's on the Hard Rock channel. It's called Metal Midgets. So you just host a music show? I host a music show two hours. I do five, six breaks. I pick out my own songs. I just go through my iPod.

I'm like, oh. You ever have people over the house with you doing it? Once in a while, I'll go to a concert. I'll do them backstage. You'll help me co-host it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll do something like that. But I pretty much do them by myself.

I just pick, I go to the ACDC Powered record. I go, I think I'm going to play Give Me a Bullet. Oh, yeah. There's not one bad song that Bon Scott on record that they ever did. There's not one bad song. It's astounding record that they ever did it's like it's not one bad song it's astounding it's just fucking great it's amazing dirty deeds done they're cheap i mean there's nothing ain't no fun waiting around to be a millionaire it's just so it's hilarious and sad that like right like highway to hell album that was that was the one that was gonna

really put him over the top i know and then he just fucking dies. But Back in Black, that's a good record. That's unbelievable that they could pull that off. They got bigger as a band. Yeah, I kind of lost him after that a little bit. I listened to it because Dino gets me into it, and I listened to the Brian Johnson records, but I don't, for some reason, I'm really wired for the Bon Scott records. Yeah, absolutely.

But look, Brian had big shoes to fill and did a great job. Sure, no, I like a lot of those records. I like Back in Black a lot, and I listened to some of the other ones. Back to fill and did a great job. Sure. No, I like a lot of those records. I like Back in Black a lot, and I listen to some of the other ones. Back in Black is just a massive piece. But just the thin, sort of like the raw production of those Blond Scott records before Back in Black, all those other ones, it's just so pure. No, I know.

I mean, you know, Love Hungry Man, Night Prowler. I love that song. Night Prowler. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just unbelievable. Yeah, Beating Around the Bush. Walk All Over You. Night Prowler, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is unbelievable. Yeah, beating around the bush. Walk all over you. Touch too much. Touch too much. So good. Alright, we could

do this all day. It's good seeing you, Jim. Absolutely, man. Good seeing you, too. Jim Florentine. Again, JimFlorentine.com for the tour dates. Pittsburgh this weekend at the Improv. So Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon are going to be here in a second. And we're okay.

Everything's okay. What I do want to say is the movie is a special movie. It's an emotional movie. It's funny. special movie it's it's it's an emotional movie it's funny but it's the story is so unique that you know it had to have been true for the most part as i find out and uh it was well performed well written and funny and uh and and i squirted out a few tears which i you know which i can do during commercial but but that that's not the point. I enjoyed the movie, which made it even better to talk to Kamel and Emily. Because I booked them before I saw the movie, and it would be hard for me to...

You know what I'm saying. It's a good movie, and it's called The Big Sick, and it opens in New York and Los Angeles on June 23rd, expands to more cities on June 30th, and throughout July. And now this is me talking to them. I watched that Q&A thing, the video. Yeah. I don't remember any of it.

A single thing, yeah. It happened five days ago. With you guys? We did a thing in New York that Judd filmed, like a live show. Where was that? The PlayStation Theater in New York. So you guys were just in New York? Yeah.

Doing press? Yeah. With Judd? No, he was not there. He did not go to that show. Judd didn't go with us. Judd set us up on a tour because he was like, I want to do, we'll do it, we'll all do stand-up. I was like, okay, great.

And Judd's like, I'm not going. he's like i've got a special coming out and so i'm doing all those venues in like the next couple months so i'm not going with you and we were like oh that's right okay he was all nervous about his special he still is very much oh yeah well i'm glad he's finally gotten back into stand-up and doing what he always wanted to do yeah no it took him this long he really does that is i know. Like, when he first started coming back around, you know, there was part of me sort of like, really, man? You're going to take up time? You're going to have this, too? You're going to do this, too?

But, you know, he's really into it, and he works hard, and he's got some great jokes. He gives a shit. He actually gives a shit. It's not like, you know, sometimes somebody becomes a famous actor, and then they go to stand. It's not like that. No. He's been a great joke writer forever. So, Emily Kumail, is that right? Yes, sir.

You know it. I don't know if we're good, but I think that maybe I should probably effectively apologize for my rude behavior a few years ago. This is how we're starting? Oh, I think we're good. Did I see you, though? I feel like we just made up on Twitter. Did we actually have a moment where? I ran into you at the comedy store a few months ago, not too long ago, and you showed me around,

and you were just like, are we good? And I was like, yeah, we're good. All right. Well, I'll apologize twice. I don't know that I apologized to Emily, because she saw the most of it. I did. I did. Yeah.

And then I wanted to, my way of apologizing was going to have you play yourself on my show, which you declined. Oh, God. That was my big idea. It's like, okay, you know what? First off, let me bring up, I was given a tentative offer to play myself on the show that then was just disappeared and was rescinded. It was better off.

Because it wasn't like there was, like like you run into a problem at ifc budgets where that character didn't end up talking and oddly the extra that played you would made everyone a little uncomfortable oh in what way what was her deal i don't know she was an extra she was a bit extra oh yeah she was overdoing it a little bit but yeah okay so everything's good just so you know yeah this is the first time that i've truly understood that that was meant as like a conciliatory gesture. Because here's the thing. I'm learning through Emily how to communicate better.

I'm trying. Sometimes I'll mean something, but to the other person, it doesn't mean that. It reads the opposite sometimes. So to me, I didn't understand that that's what it was. That's what it was meant to be until just now. It was a roundabout way. There was no reason why it should be clear that I wanted you to relive me blowing up at you

for getting mad at me for making fun of you on your show. I didn't enter that night with a good attitude. So that's good. So you never watched the guy playing you. Oh, I've seen it. It wasn't bad was it yeah he did a good job

he did a pretty good job fuck that guy you and me are cool but that guy and then I had a guy playing Jonah yeah and then there was a bit

there was a minute there where Jonah might he was gonna be in the audience that we were gonna oh that's very meta yeah it didn't work out well I heard about it

because they tell you there's a guy ali moji who's on silicon valley he was like he pulled me aside of a table reading he was like hey man do you and mark mirren have anything and i was like what do you mean he's like i just read these sides for kumar sanjiani hosting the burn was like, yeah, that might be based on me. I always think that I make myself look like the big idiot, but that's not the same as apologizing. See, it didn't turn out well for me in that episode. That's true.

You were the bad guy. Yeah, I didn't look good. Yeah. Yeah, so that was it. But you claim that you couldn't do it because of HBO. That is absolutely true. It's true. They are not great about that stuff.

It's still very difficult to be able to do anything. Which is great. It's tough to complain. Yeah, no, I've been watching Silicon Valley, and sporadically, I've seen a couple episodes. You're always funny. Thank you, Mark. But I watched the movie, The Big Sick. Oh, you saw the movie?

Why wouldn't I see the movie? Why would I talk to you if I'm not going to, like, you don't think I would do that? You think I'd just have you over and just, like, sort of, what's up, you guys? Why are you here? A lot of the, like, comedy podcasts we've been doing of, like, people we know,

people are like, oh, these guys don't need to see the movie. They know them. So that's why it's surprising. No, I watched the movie. How did you see it? I got, oh, people are in charge of this. You got a link. know them so that's why it's surprising no i watched a movie how did you see it i got people are in charge of this you got a link i got a link well i always wonder if how people are watching it is it on the laptop no no no we i put it on the link and then i put it on the apple tv so i watched it on a relatively big screen i saw it as a film it did say uh you know it had the the weird property yeah watermark on it for Marc Maron.

But I got to say, it was one of those experiences where I didn't go like, how well do I know you? You guys were always nice to me in New York. I think you gave me a ride home once from Bell House. And I know you from everywhere else. And it's always been good. But I didn't know the story. And the weird thing about the movie, aside from it's very well done, it's very well written. And I was very moved. And, you moved and I was tearing up and stuff.

But I didn't know that story. And also the fact is that what makes it so unique is that there's no way you can make it up. Exactly. Right. We were always like, because, you know, we talked with Judd. Judd was like, should we put it based on a true story? At the beginning. And we were like, I feel like this is a movie that when you watch it even if you don't know it's a true story

you'd be like I feel like this happened to somebody you'd be like why would someone write this it's so specific random but it's so specific that there's no way and like it seems like even the stuff like because you both wrote it yeah and it seems like even the stuff that happened in the relationship was so specific that it had to have happened, most of it. Probably. Yeah, a lot of it. Yeah, a lot of it, yeah.

We took a lot of it from our lives. And then what Judd and Mike, the director, did was like, all right, now it's a thing on its own. You've poured yourself out onto all these pages. Now let's make it a movie. So there are, you know, it's all from our things, but all the, I think. Most of the major stuff is us, but then they would advise us on like, this is a great way to crank up the drama, crank up the stakes here.

Who's the worst kind of person for Kumail to be stuck with here? So they were really great about helping us fictionalize it. But yeah, for the most part, it's a lot of it is pretty close to home. Well, it was interesting because there are moments where you know there's that one huge moment where you know they decide not to move her yeah and then you're on stage but you don't know how it's going to go you think like oh he won for a second you think like well they listen to him and then the other thing happens and then becomes terrible yeah yeah well i was that but that must have been one of those times where like you had to make a decision on how to

make that moment land differently to to to just like you expect one thing and then it's not that yeah well we what we wanted to sort of deal with that was the weird thing about this was when emily was sick those eight days the real real Emily. The real Emily. This one right here. Yeah. She comes out of it. Spoiler alert. When she's in a coma for eight days,

those days, it is a true emotional roller coaster. It's like great news, terrible news, unthinkably awful news. Congratulations. Oh, no, it didn't work. It's like every day,

there's like six different things and it's like a't work. It's like every day, there's like six different things. And it's like a pinball. It's like completely different. You never know what's going to happen. I guess for people who are listening who might want to see the movie, the issue is that you guys are now married. And you've been for a long time. Ten years, yeah. Yeah, I remember.

And this is your first real foray into big show business. That's very true. Well, you did a little producing on the meltdown. Well, she wrote for... I've written for a few TV shows, but it's my first time writing a movie.

Oh, wait. What did you write for? I wrote for the Carmichael show for another period and for Crashing. And why'd you stop doing those? All of those, honestly, because of this movie.

All of every... I started writing for the Carmichael Show, and then I had to leave to go film this movie. Because when I first met you, you're like, I'm going to be working at a shelter or something. Yeah. I guess I was a therapist for many years, and then kind of was trying to figure out,

I was writing personal essays for women on websites and stuff. Right. On Jane or something? Yeah yeah a lot of that stuff and then and then it's kind of slowly morphed into this yeah but was it like let's be honest now that we're all here and we're open was it that's the only reason you stay with him right you're like this is my ticket i gotta ride this this roller coaster if you this rocket ship i don know. What do you call it? Very few people who know us see me as the ticket. Turned out you were. Who knew?

When we first got to LA, we were at a party, like one of these industry parties. And someone asked me in regards to Camille, when did you get on board? Right, right. He was like some political affiliate. And I was like, oh, this town is disgusting. And I hate everything in it. And look at me now. Oh, now you're going to're gonna love it now there's gonna be nothing but love after the premiere of this movie you're like this is the best town ever are you kidding I still get angry

a lot yeah how can you not yeah somebody told me yesterday I forget the name of the producer he was like he gave someone an advice he's like whenever you get pictures taken stand all the way on the right because that way you're first in the captions. Oh, really? Oh, God. That's so gross. I was like, that is perfect Hollywood.

I still can't figure out, like I've spent my entire, like I never think I look good on TV or in pictures or anything. And the last couple years I've just been trying to kind of, you know,

get a face that works. Like, you know, like a smile that works. You and Camille have that in common. What do you mean get a face that works. Like a smile that works. You and Camille have that in common. What do you mean get a face that works? You hate how you're dressed. When you're on a press line or something and they're going like, over here, over here, over here.

You're just like, how do I land on a face? I'm trying to do the smize. I try and do the smize. What is that? Someone texted that or tweeted that. Just smile with your eyes. Because I don't like how my face looks when the smile. What is that? Someone texted that or tweeted that. Smile with your eyes. Because I don't like how my face looks when I smile. So I'm just trying to look not unhappy while not smiling.

I squint a little. Yeah. I squint a little because I've noticed in photographs sometimes I'm a little open, a little too open. That can make you look psychotic. The squinting or the open? I have family members that have that issue. The open thing? The too open thing.

It makes you look a little over-medicated. It's kind of not great. Yeah. And you don't even do it on purpose. Not at all. No, it's very easy to do. I find I laugh in photos because I think most of the good photos of me, I'm laughing. So now in photo shoots, I'm like.

Oh, that's good. It's awful. It's so. Like they're supposed to be posed and now every photo is like, why is he just doing that with his eyes? And she seems to be laughing. Exactly. That's what we do.

So let's go beat for beat on this without spoiling anything. So this characterization of your family, a traditional Pakistani family in the States, but adhering to the rules of the culture and of the religion, that's all pretty true? Was it like they would not have let you marry anybody outside of the religion of the culture yeah pretty much i mean that was the plan

since i was a little kid like since i was a little kid my mom was like um i'm gonna find a wife for you because my mom said she was like i didn't even graduate high school she's like all i have is you you guys and all I look forward to. The next thing I have to look forward to in my life is finding you a wife. So it's a lot of pressure. So that process that's captured in the film of actually auditioning wives or having them come over was a relatively real thing? Not for me, but it was for my cousin. When I was a kid, I was in Pakistan, and I had a cousin she sort of was staying at our house doing these. So it would every, you know, couple times a week, these like families would come and

it's changed now a little bit. Now they actually, you'll meet the girl and then you sort of actually hang out on your own. But that's a- They've opened it up a little. Yeah. And the internet is now more involved, I would say. Oh yeah.

There's all these websites that are basically like Muslim dating but to get married websites. But when, okay, so, and how, did it really play out in the way that it happened in the movie where you kind of had this weird meeting at a comedy club? That is one thing that's exactly accurate is that I heckled him at a show in Chicago. And that's how you met. Mm-hmm. And then you had this great thing going. And then he finds out that you were married.

Is that true? Yeah. Yeah. He did find out that I was pretty recently divorced. Recently divorced. And then you find out that he can't marry you. Yep. That's exactly right.

And you break up. And within days, you get sick. Well, this is different. This is one of the things. And this is one of the things that we cranked up. What's more awkward than having a casual boyfriend by your bedside when you're really sick is having your ex-boyfriend by your bedside. Right. In reality, we both knew this information about each other and we were just kind of like, well, let's keep going.

I don't know what's going to happen. Oh, okay. But we actually hadn't broken up. Oh, but it was weird. It was weird. It was slightly weird because I- You hadn't met his family? Oh, Lord didn't know i existed when he when they would call he would be like you have to be quiet and i would just be like this is and you hadn't met hers either i'd met her parents

once uh for like oh like an hour yeah i just met them very briefly once and what's the characterization of your parents like your mom's like this southern no at all. My parents are pretty different than the actress. Because when you get Holly Hunter to play your mom, like you're not going to let Holly Hunter be Holly Hunter. She was great. But you are from North Carolina. I'm from North Carolina. And both my parents are very sweet, kind of stoic Southern people.

And so it's just more interesting to have them be Ray Romano and Holly Hunter bringing all their like fun stuff. Sort of like a neurotic kind of. Bad dad jokes yeah but yeah but they were great they were really good

I always like when Ray acts serious he's the best isn't he great yeah he's so good you know what I love about him always there's like

a melancholy to him he's always like very hard on himself even on his show it was like he just he felt so sad oh no

like if you get him going if you let him be hard on himself, he knows where that is. It's kind of oddly comforting. As successful as he is, he's still not altogether pleased with how he's doing things or how he's handling things. Well, he likes to act. I mean, he likes to challenge himself that way. And they were both great.

And your family was hilarious. Yeah. Well, my dad is played by a Bollywood legend. He is? What's his name? We brought in a ringer. You did? His name's Anupam Kher.

Yeah. Our movie was his 500th. 5-0-0. But to most American audiences, be like, who's the new guy? Yeah. I know. Well, that happens when people in interviews are like, how'd you find him? I didn't discover him while he was cutting my hair or anything.

That guy's the Robert De Niro of India. You've known that guy all your life? Yeah, I grew up. And when we started writing, from the beginning, I was like, I wanted to be him. I think he'd be great. He kind of looks like my dad. Yeah. Then I asked my dad, who do you want to play you?

And he said, Anupam Kher. As a joke, probably. Yeah, he didn't think we would. Yeah. play you and he said Anupam Kher so he has a joke probably yeah he didn't think we would yeah yeah but and so it was you know we and then I showed Judd and Barry and Mike the other I showed him clips of him and I was like I think it should be him and they all were like great but they were like well we'll make him an offer but we have to set a three-day limit because he's not gonna do it and we're just gonna waste time I got a phone call from him that day from India.

Yeah, he just called me directly. Oh, really? Yeah. And he was like, I'm in? Well, he called. He had notes. Yeah, he called with notes. He was like, this, this, this.

So Emily and I quickly rewrote, sent it to him that day. And then he called and was like, I didn't even read it. I just wanted to know that you would do something. Which, by the way, is a good move. Like, how hard are they going to work to get me? Were they good notes? They were. They actually made the character much better.

He's really, really. 500 movies in, he knows what he's doing. He's finally figured it out. You know what's cool? Like that, oh, I don't know. This is kind of a spoiler. What? Well, the scene where, for instance,

there's a scene in the movie where I tell them about Emily. yeah and originally to me that scene was always like i sort of take my stand i tell them everything and it's supposed to be this like here we go this is my point of view yeah he the day before he started shooting he was like it feels weird that you say all this and i don't say anything he's like only the mom had lines at one point right he. He was like, I want to say what I want to say. And Emily was like, what would you want to say? And he says, I want to say that, you know, you're not giving, you still have to care about your family, your friends. Right, right, right. The American dream doesn't mean you don't give a shit about anybody else.

Right. And so. Yeah, and we talked for like 20 minutes and then I wrote two different versions, a long version and a short version. He was like, I'm doing the long version. And I was like, let's do this. Yeah. And that's what you see. And I think that changes the movie so much

because you see both our perspectives and honestly writing the movie, writing my parents' perspective helped me understand it more and work closer. And I hadn't anticipated that. That you would have a new revelation about your current relationship or what happened then? Yeah, well, because here's what it is. You know, I always saw my parents as my parents.

I was like, oh, they're done. They're the people they'll always be. But in writing this and then in talking to them, they're changing and growing and evolving and they're in America. And they love it here because it is a lot safer. Well, the last few months have been a little tricky. But to them, I see the struggle or the work they have to put in to try and protect their cultural identity, which I think is their identity,

and how do you be who you are in a culture that's very different, in a culture where, in a big way, what you are is demonized and undervalued. Right. So I see all that with them now. And I understand that they're dealing with shit the same way that we all are. I think you also stopped seeing them as bad guys. Not that you ever fully saw them as bad guys. But they're not like these people trying to keep you from doing what you wanted to do.

They've got their reasons for stuff and i think that maybe wasn't clear to you until we were working on this right and you didn't really deal too much with the you know the the demonization except in that quick exchange with ray which is that an old bit of yours no it's not that's a great joke thank you honestly i keep joking we made the entire movie so that camille would have an excuse to make that joke because he couldn't make it on stage as himself ever. He couldn't. No. But you had it in the bag?

You were sort of like it was a round? It was just a line that we had. It was just like a room bit. Yeah, like a life bit. It was great. It was a standout joke. Thank you, Mark. But wait, you suggested that,

has there been problems in the last few months for you or your family now that the cultural climate has gotten worse and more heightened? I talk to my mom a lot. Where are they? They're in New Jersey. Okay. They've been here about 10 years. And to them, when they came to America, they were like, it was such a relief.

Because for them being there, it's very dangerous, a lot of crime, all that stuff. It's also a wonderful place, Pakistan. I don't mean to cast it as this hellhole. I really don't. But it is a lot more stressful, a lot of corruption. So when they came here and they saw everything works so well, you always have electricity, the water is clean, you don't have to pay somebody off to get a driver's license.

Cops can't just stop you for the most part. So to them they were like oh finally we made it we got here this is great and then when this was happening my mom was like where else are we gonna go she was like we already came here it's like hard to talk about she's like we already came here she's like i don't know we're getting old where where are we gonna run to next right it's like mom i, I don't know. We're getting old. Where are we going to run to next? Right. I was like, Mom, I really, I don't think you'll have to run. I think it'll be okay. But they are, you know, it's kind of shaken her world a little more than just, it's not just that she's like, oh, I feel unsafe. Her reality has changed. Because to her, America was like this.

This one, yeah, it was like a safe, lovely place. Right, that democracy could take such a profoundly disconcerting turn. Yeah. But on the flip side, she and I text a lot more than we used to, and she's gotten a lot more, a lot of people have reached out to her and to your family in general to kind of let them know, like, this isn't us. I promise, like, we're, everything's okay. And I think she was like, that was lovely to see that, like, in the midst of all everything that's happening, let them know like, this isn't us. I promise like we're, everything's okay. And I think she was like that,

that was lovely to see that like in the midst of all everything that's happening, there's like support there. In her neighborhood and with her friends. Yeah. And like, you know, from like my family was like calling to apologize and it's like,

Oh wow. What a weird, like, sorry for what our country did. Exactly. And it's also like, that's a weird thing to do too, but it's like,

I, I hope, I hope there's like some silver linings in there somewhere of like feeling like you have a good support system. But yeah. Well, I think that like a movie like this also, you know, is something that celebrates what, you know, America should be. I think so. I think that's right.

And that, you know, the struggles of it, like they're, you know, it's sort of menacing that when, you know, when your family says that you're not going to be, that we're going to disown you if you do this. I don't know how much that was played for dramatic effect. I mean, that was the understanding my whole life. And I know people from my family who that has happened to. And it's stuck. It's interesting only very recently have those people who are like a generation above me have started sort of getting back in contact and i think they've reconnected um and become uh after marrying people outside

of the religion having kids and stuff yeah and it and it's been it took like decades and decades and now they're i think people are getting older and they're like this is my brother they're reevaluating yeah yeah it's not that thing they're that my family is getting less strict it's just like you get old and you're like i miss my brother i want to i want to talk well that's a funny thing a therapist said to me years ago was that because I was having trouble with my parents is he said, you can train your parents. Yeah. And I'm like, really? And he goes, yeah, you don't have to talk to your parents.

And the thing is, is that eventually they'll want to talk to you. Are we there yet? With my parents? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Too much. But that was years ago, but it was a very sort of insightful thing. Yeah.

Is that, you know, they can call the shots up to a degree, but you get to a point, which you did in the movie, where you're like, you can think of it however you're going to think of it, but you're still my family and I'll see you later. Yeah. And like, I'm a grown up and now you're going to have to reckon with me as an adult now. Yeah. We're going to have to negotiate this. Which I started doing with my parents when I was about 15.

So they're unfortunately hardcore trained that I'm just going to do what I'm going to do and you're going to have to be okay with it. Right, and it worked out all right. Yeah, it worked out great. Well, the negotiation thing is interesting because what we're negotiating with, not everything has to be part of your relationship with your parents. There are certain things that you disagree on or whatever it is that you're like, you know what? I'm just going to take this out of our relationship.

And it's just not going to be how we relate to each other. Right, right. So for a lot of the stuff that we disagree on, I feel like we haven't discussed it. But it feels like we've both sort of taken certain things off the table. Right. Just put it in a Tupperware container. It's like how some people don't talk about politics. Yeah, I think a lot of families have experienced that now.

Like going home and being like, if we are going to get along, we're going to not be able to talk about politics. Right. Yeah. So your parents, ultimately, their love for you transcended the adherence to tradition. Yeah, I think it really helped them that they were here. So they were kind of cut off from the rest of the family. There was no pressure, you know, like familial pressure. There's not as much pressure.

Yeah, because I remember the way that they would talk about the people who had married outside. And I was like, I would never want to bring that on my parents because it's pretty vicious. I will say that in real life, when I told them about Emily, it was a similar situation where Emily was very, very sick and she was still in the coma. I didn't know what was going to happen.

So when I told them in real life, my mom was very concerned about emily and i was like is she is she gonna be okay and would like sort of check up on her and then when emily became okay that's when she got really angry so she had a mom she she had a heart yeah yeah yeah it doesn't want anyone to be in pain or yeah now that we're out of the woods yeah yeah get rid of her and she also understood that you know if anything it's my fault it's not emily's fault so she's never never blamed emily for anything right right was able to separate her disappointment with me from the person that is emily well yeah i thought i thought the whole like that the whole idea of

developing a relationship with with her parents in the film because of this dire situation and then adding the fact that they knew that you guys had broken up and then how that evolved. I'd never seen that before. You know, that's an interesting situation. I do think it's true. And we don't really talk about when you do fall in love with someone, to a certain extent, you kind of have to like court their family too and that that's a relationship of its own yeah and not that it always affects you know the relationship you have with the person but it is something we all have to contend with right um and i hadn't yeah you don't really see that in movies a lot who was the woman that played you zoe kazan yeah she's good she's great yeah that was great you did a good job you know uh kurt did a good job kurt bronner is that right uh bo burnham

ad bryant is great in it yeah but was real good what made you cast bo uh that was judd yeah and bo was a friend of ours and we're fans of it but he was one of the first people that judd was like it should be because judd has worked with bo before a few times and is a fan of his and was like you know put Bo in. Bo should be one of your friends. So he was the first one we cast of that group because we knew we wanted three people. And Judd was the executive producer.

Correct. The producer, yeah. But he was hands-on in that you showed him drafts and he had notes. Absolutely. For about three years every couple months we would take him a draft and he would kind of give us notes. That long, huh? Yeah.

And then we would go off and a few months later, we would bring back another draft. And yeah, it was an arduous process for sure. Oh, wow. He puts you through the ringer in the best way. Like it made it way better.

And I thought that your mom was great. Your brother was funny. Yeah. All the supporting roles were really good. Even the couple of the few women that were coming and going. Yeah. A lot of those girls are really, really funny comedians also. Oh, yeah?

Bella Lavelle, who's the girl who's featured most in the movie. The one you walk to home? Yeah, she's amazing. She's like, we were doing that scene, and we were like, oh, you're gonna be like a huge huge star behind the monitor I was like maybe he should end up

with this girl and we should just rewrite the movie in life well no and Mitra Johari is also she's one of the girls

there's a lot of really really funny women that kind of come through that I'm glad they all got little moments here's what I learned auditioning these people there are so many

fucking great actors I know and they're all little moments. Here's what I learned auditioning these people. There are so many fucking great actors. I know. And they're all here. Oh, yeah. And in New York, we shot this in New York. So in New York, you also have access to all these legendary Broadway actors. Oh, they'll come in. Yeah, it's so wild to have them in there.

And they're just tremendous. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like the guy who plays the Montreal comedy. Oh, yeah. Who is that guy? Seamus. Jeremy Se player. Oh, yeah, who is that guy? Seamus.

Jeremy Seamus. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What was his name in the movie? Oh, it's Bob Dalaban. Yeah. That's the name of the movie. Because we kept saying, it's got to be like a Bob Balaban type. And so gradually he became Bob Dalaban.

You couldn't get Bob? You couldn't get Balaban? We don't even know if we went out to Bob for that. I think we were like, but in our brains we kept going, the Bob Balaban guy. But Jeremy Seamus is like an amazing Broadway actor. And it's such a small part, but you really feel. Yeah, yeah. He was great.

You feel that guy, you know. And I remember when we were in Chicago and the Montreal or Aspen bookers would come and like judge you. When they give like little lectures and stuff. When they come and give like classes. We wanted a show what that was generally. Like, you know, all movie, Hollywood movies are always about like, follow your dream, do it, you can succeed. So we wanted to have the Kurt character, whose name is Chris in the movie,

be the guy that like doesn't make the move, doesn't do it. Well, you had two of those guys. Chris Highsmith, yeah. The Joe guy. Yeah. Highsmith. Sam Highsmith, sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He had that one hook, right? Yeah. The Joe guy. Yeah. Highsmith. Sam Highsmith. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He had that one hook, right? Yeah. People say Sam. Yeah. Now, Kurt Brunner wrote like 10 minutes of material for that guy to do as that character. Oh, really? And only like 30 seconds of it makes it into the movie. That was fun.

Yeah, that all rang pretty true. And actually, that moment where you tell him to come to New York, he's like, no, I'm good. Yeah, you know those guys. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, from Chicago, there's a lot of guys where you're like, oh, you're so funny, just never. Yeah, every city has them. You're not exactly clear why they don't do it,

but, you know, in retrospect, you think, like, it might not have been the right thing for them to do it. Totally. It could have killed them. Oh, 100%. It could have killed them. And, yeah, some of those guys are, comedy is just, drinking is a more important thing,

and comedy is just, like, the thing that they say that they is just, drinking is a more important thing, and comedy is just like the thing that they say that they're doing, but really it's like making sure they can go and drink every night. And have friends, and have a social circle, and be known in a little world. Well, I've heard you talk about this on here, but when you're in another city and you're like, oh, this is the legendary guy, you gotta see him, this guy, and then you see him and you're like, this guy? That's the guy?

Maybe he was better back in the... Well, there's a couple of those guys where they had their time, you know? In the 80s or whatever. In the 90s. Sure. Early 90s, yeah. And you can kind of see it, but you know... There's like a sparkle there.

I appreciate, you know, I respect him. It's all very heartbreaking. You know, you guys seem to be avoiding it currently. But there's no shortage of it but i think you're out of the woods oh for now i guess not depends what your expectations are ultimately yeah the woods are eternal there are always going to be woods yeah yeah yeah always in the woods i don't i don't always understand why people keep working once they've had success but uh you know yeah you do you you wouldn't stop doing this you would well this is

very specific you know this is like easy i just walked you through my house and you know this is me a great cup of coffee i made you a good cup of coffee and it's my social life it's really my functioning social life and and you know it's just me and my partner and we you know we this could be the only thing i do if i want so no this stays but you know the the kind of like you know the compulsion to do a new hour every year and that like, oh, I better get up three times this week. I'd like to think I wouldn't have to do that. Well, why don't you not do it?

I'm going to try. You're going to try to not do it? Just for a week or two. I can already see you talking yourself down from it. Well, no, because I just spent three, four months on the road. I taped a special a couple weeks ago for Netflix. And I've got this show premiering. And there's part of me that's sort of like, I want to take the time to figure out what the fuck I want to say next.

Because sometimes you get into that new hour, either because you've got to do a show or whatever. And it doesn't happen organically. You're sort of like, fuck, I've got to get this together. I'm going to do it anyways. But I'd like to see what it feels like to do it on my own time again. Well, cause if I think if you're working a bunch, you don't have the life material to then write stuff.

Like you're not interesting enough to write new material, but they still, you're still expected to. And I think that's when you see real shit hours from people sometimes. Well, yeah, because they want to keep it going. You get a window of opportunity to make the money.

Cause you're hot. Yeah. At a certain level of standup or you're of stand-up, or you're getting the deals. So how did you pick Mike Showalter to direct it? Yeah, well, my first job was he had a show on Comedy Central called Michael and Michael in His Shoes, and I wrote for that show. Oh, that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we've just known him for

years and then we saw uh hello my name is doris we saw an early sally fields yeah was that was that all him was that david wayne and him no that was all michael yeah and when i saw that movie i think we both had the same reaction of like oh mike would be great at this because it's got such a lovely it's really respectful to the, but also like lets the character be funny in a way that's self-deprecating, but it never, the tone is so great and it goes from being sad and sweet to being really funny.

I just thought it was so great. And I was like, oh, he can handle the weirdness of this movie and this story. And it's not always so easy to shoot comedy and to shoot comedy clubs. And I thought it came out pretty good. Yeah, well, the one thing we did was we never wanted to present

this is the trap I see some shows get into where they want to present the stand-up as being really good stand-up. And then you watch it. First of all, stand-up is so hard to translate to TV anyway or to a screen. So you see it and there's been

I don't want to name the shows, but where you're like oh, this is an amazing sketch and you watch and you're there's been I don't want to name the shows but where you're like oh this is an amazing sketch and you watch and you're like that's not that funny yeah like within the show they're saying

it's an amazing sketch yeah it's supposed to be like genius writing and you watch and you're like it's not that good so with our thing we just wanted to present

the stand up as it was and never present it as like this is good or this is bad like this is just some of it no I liked it because like if you've been doing this

long enough there are types and you know they were very familiar you know to me just in posture do you know what i mean like even even when you just saw like bow choosing to sit down yeah you know do me basically and then that was like that's my thing i sit down and lurch but uh but like when even when you just see Kurt doing the pigeon bit. Like very physical. Right, but that's the type.

And also I was happy that the back room felt organic. And then just the Sam guy. You just knew that guy. You didn't even hear all his jokes. You could barely hear any of them. But just by you mentioning he's doing another Sam joke or whatever. But the coming unhinged on stage thing, I don't think a lot of people know that that really happens.

It happens. It does. And it doesn't happen as much as it used to because people are nervous about... Filming. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. But people used to not necessarily emotionally coming unglued

and breaking down, but certainly anger and that kind of stuff was a lot more prevalent when I was younger. I did. Just people losing it. Because that's where you're going to do it. Yeah. When everyone's watching you and you're like,

I got all this pressure on me. Fuck it. Let that valve go. I had bombed beautifully in some very important moments. Yeah, totally, right? I remember reading, like, when I was before, before I started doing stand-up, I was reading books about stand-up. And they were like, they talked about it.

I won't name the comedian, but they were like, this comedian had a very important showcase and just had a horrific bomb and it like, that shit hurts your career. I remember when it was 2009 or something, when I did Bonnaroo, I've only done it once.

I won't go back to that. I had one of those where still to this day, if I look in comments, something like previous to this movie, someone will be like, I saw him have the most horrific bomb

at Bonnaroo it was pretty intense but you know it's like that Bonnaroo situation though because Rocky will set it up like it's great it's air conditioned

it's a great it's the best situation for a shitty rock festival and it may be a good rock festival but you can't leave the grounds it's hot as fuck people are just coming into the air conditioned

comedy tent to relax it's the middle of the day everything is stacked against you other than air conditioning yes and then yes people come in to fall asleep they're there for a nap and like I did a set there and you know I knew exactly what was going on and I just wanted it to be

over but I think sometimes you enter those situations believing what the booker tells you and you're like oh it's going to be great and then within 30 seconds you're like this is not great at all and I'm fighting for my life 45 seconds and not because they're hostile they're just not they're they're sleeping well these guys were hostile just started booing me and uh well the problem i think you hit it is like sometimes in these situations the the trap is to try and win them over yeah that's what you did. You just want to say the words and get off stage.

Get out. Just don't embarrass yourself. Looking at the watch. I'm not even going to finish that bit. I did my time. It was a show with Robert Smigel. It was like a triumph show I was on. So I think it was me, Amy Schumer, Smigel.

Soon, I think. Was anyone doing well? Nobody was doing well, but nobody did as awful as I did. And there were three shows. And after that show, Smigel was like, I'm going to put you up at the end of the show i was like i get it i fully understand but you did selling point i was used to be like don't you want to go to bonnaroo and like i always was sold on that but then i started to realize like you know if i wanted to go i just go yeah you know also you don't want to go you don't really like come on

you're gonna hang out with a bunch of comics. I'm like, I can do that here. And by the way, in a trailer. Because the green room for the comics was like a trailer. And I was like, we're literally all just crammed into a trailer with one tiny bathroom. Or you had to use the fucking honey pots, which I can't stand. No, thank you. No, thank you. The best one was always bumper shoots.

The only one. The shows were good. The shows were good. But the concert's good. It's manageable. You can leave and you're in a city. You can walk around and see bands

and like the headliners at a nice little stadium. You're not stuck in mud. Yeah. Yeah, Bonnery was just like, you couldn't get out. Like, it's like, what are we going to do all day?

It's like, well, the van's not leaving. Oh, fuck. That train and the van only leaves like a couple times a day. It's like Saigon. Yeah. Just people are getting

drunker and drunker. Just sweaty and mud. We had a great time. That being said, we did have a very fun time. Did we? I had a great time. I didn't have to do stand-up. I remember.

That always makes a difference. Yeah. That was the first time I hung out with Thune and we became friends there. I guess that's the good thing that came out of it. With Nick? How's he doing? Great. As far as we know.

Oh, good. Yeah. Well, look, I i think and showalter did a good job you know i've talked to him many times we've had our ups and downs what's your what's your ups and downs with him well i think at different points in his life you know um it just we didn't match up you know you guys are both crackly guys yeah yeah well but did you have a thing against like the state guys like these guys guys? I did, sure. Sort of come in. Yeah, sure. Yeah, because I'm that age, you know,

and when they sort of infiltrated the standup scene, I was like, what the fuck? We got to deal with these guys. What are they doing? We were doing Luna at the time and then they'd show up as standups. All of a sudden they all decided they were standups. And then they put on a show. Didn't they have a Stella Live show

that was in New York for a while? Yeah, they'd have me on that occasionally, but I resented them then too. and me and Mike I don't think Michael Ian Black and I have ever been completely uh recovered from whatever it is we do to each other I watched I listened to an episode of you guys together and it was really it was like tennis it was uh oh wait the live one or the one-on-one thing I think it was the one-on-one yeah we did all right we're okay I don't engage much anymore. But Showalter, like, you know, he's a difficult guy.

He used to be more so. But then all of a sudden, like, you know, he gets sobered up. He's got a family. And, you know, people get older. It's just like your parents, like you're talking about. Eventually, like, what's the grudge? Yeah. Is it worth holding on to?

No matter what, these are the people you've known for decades now. And you know them, you know. It's've known for decades now. And you know them. It's weird even if you don't talk to them. I had that realization recently that there's people that – I've known some of these guys for, what, 25 years, a little bit. But I saw a roommate of mine from college who I hadn't seen in 15 years. And you don't never know. And I saw him, and it was like it was

right there it was not there was no distance but there are those people and then there are people that you see and you're like i don't fucking think i ever knew you yeah the fuck are you what like we're struggling to get through one conversation right like how do we wait but like most of the people that i know from comedy like i you know i know enough you know what i mean like i don't ever feel like holy shit i'm always pleasantly surprised i'm rarely like oh my god you're a monster that thing is weird what you were just saying like i hadn't you know so i came here and i had a lot of my family i hadn't seen in like 15 years and i had a cousin graduating last year so i went up and my aunt my aunt came and i hadn't seen her in 15 years

yeah and it was like we were never apart like right yeah we were pretty. And it was like we were never apart. Right, yeah. Because we were pretty close, and it was like exactly the same, like making the same jokes. You go back into that, and it's great. But then sometimes, and I won't, sometimes you run into people, and you're like, oh, you're a douchebag now. Yeah, what happened? I didn't think this was going to happen. Yeah, yeah. And maybe you always were.

Yeah, that's, yeah. Who knows? There's just some people that are wired into you, and you know, it's always familiar. But you still, you don't want to push it. You just hang out for a few hours. You don't want to spend too many days. I don't need many new people intimately in my life. Yeah, I don't need new friends, for sure.

I get people in here for an hour. I'm good. I'm good. It's great. I usually have conversations with them that they've never had before, or I've had. And I feel like I know them. And I'm like, all right, great. Take care. See you off into the night i've gotten my film yeah

what do you see achieved other than this and stand up do you like go out to movies and stuff do you go see in life yeah what's your social life oh yeah i'm dating a woman who's a painter and yeah we go to movies and we make food and you know we go to art things i just i was in new york we you know went to lincoln center you know we did saw jazz things i just i was in new york we you know went to lincoln center you know we did saw jazz go uh yeah i do things but i don't i don't run with the guys anymore and i have a pack really if i need to check in with that i'll just go to put in for work at the comedy store that's what's so great hang out in the hallway for a few hours be like i'm good for a little while yeah i get it yeah i what i what oddly though i have not gone to

alt venues almost at all in like a couple years probably not since I had that thing with you I've not I did the first show with Meltdown for

a woman's show a monthly show and she just I don't know she wanted me to do it so I went and did it I don't think I've been there since I walked out

really that night on your show well we stopped doing that show yeah oh I was gonna ask you if I could. I don't know why I drifted from that because I was always,

I think there was a- They love you. Do they? Oh, absolutely. Of course they do. I somehow decided that they didn't at some point. No, they just can't show emotions as easily. I think that's part of it.

They showed they love you by offering you a part on their TV show. That's how they- Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. I don't know. I just like if I need to work out. Yeah, I tend to go to the store and just work out. Which is great.

I do think the alt shows are more like hangs. Like it's supposed to be like a cool hang more than it is like business. Although the store and those places are a hang too. They're definitely a hang. And like I think what's happened is I've come sort of full circle on the fact that like like, I think when I first got to L.A., I needed to do the alt shows. I needed to do any show. And I liked that there was this whole world of new comedy fans coming up. But then I did start to feel like I didn't trust it as much as I just trusted the dirty

old shitholes. That's interesting. Like, there was something about the audience that was sort of homogenized and also their expectations were acute and it was a little, everyone seemed the same. Whereas you go to the comedy store, it's like, you don't know what you're walking into. Oh, see, that's really interesting.

So it almost seems like the alt rooms became less of a challenge for you, maybe? Yeah, well, they were, but I wanted to be part of it. But you still, you go to the comedy store and you can fucking be handed your ass. Yeah, you have to win them over whereas all groups... You've got to do the job.

Yes, yes. That makes sense. That actually makes a lot of sense. I totally have that where I'll try out stuff at UCB and it'll really kill. And even before I'll be at... I saw you at the store.

I try and go a few times and you get there and you're like, oh, I have all this material and you look down and even before you perform it you're like, this isn't going to fly. look down and even before you perform it you're like this isn't going to fly

it's got no ending you'll feel that it's not going to land yeah yeah you just saying this doesn't have an ending is not going to be the laugh that you want

right in an alt room you could get away with it yeah totally well I hope the thing's a big hit and you did a great job

and I love the movie and it's good to see you and I'm happy for your success oh thank you too I and uh what else i'm excited for glow i'm really excited oh yeah that's i mean i am too i've no like i it was so interesting because i just took an acting gig because i wanted to try it and uh and now it seems like it's like wow this seems like it's going to be a big deal yeah i mean glow itself was like that i loved watching that on saturday mornings like the one that i knew that tv show was coming i was like, I loved watching that on Saturday mornings. Like when I knew that TV show was coming, I was like, I cannot wait to watch this. Well, it was really exciting on a lot of levels to do it, you know, because none of it was really on my shoulders.

And I'd just come out of four seasons of my show and it was just sort of, I'm just going to play this guy. And you get to see all these women do this work. Like they really became wrestlers. And it was like, in my mind, it's like, I'm just here to facilitate their show. Beautiful. So much easier. Yeah. So let me ask you this.

So you hadn't really done any real acting until your show, right? Right. Did you take classes? What'd you do? I, you know, I knew enough about myself to know that I was okay on screen and that like I could handle it, but I knew that I was going to eat it for a season. Like I knew that there was no way around not being stiff or a little stilted because I'd never been in that environment or working on TV like that.

So I just sort of accepted that I'll take the hit and I'll figure it out. So I didn't take classes. But like as I've talked to people in here, like Martin Landau and stuff, they're like, if I get another season of Glow, which that character was different than me, but it was in my wheelhouse. I'm not going to take anything outside of my- We have to like really challenge your acting ability. Well, like I'm not going to learn an accent.

You know, I don't want to, like I can, I can be present and I can listen and I can do it. But there are other nuances. Like if I get another season of Glow, I'd like to focus on, you know, going deeper with the guy. But I think I can, you know, I do all right, but no,

I never took lessons. It was just sort of learning how to be comfortable, I guess. And the thing is like, and I think you figured it out. I don't know when, but you know, there is a sort of like when you enter scene,

when the cameras are rolling, there's a, you know, you feel like it to find the room to make choices and be funny and take pauses it takes a little while yeah right you know like you're where you're like i'm okay here and like you know let's let that sit for a second and do that but not be thinking that right exactly yeah i always have when i was first starting doing it i would be in the scene and i would be like what what should I do with my hands?

And then I'm fucked. Yeah, right. It's the worst. Then you're fucked. Yeah, like, what do I do with my hands normally? Yeah.

And then even that doesn't work. Yeah, exactly. And then all you're thinking about is your hands. Then you're fucked. Then it's over.

And then you tear your eyes out. But I was talking to Ray about this. Yes, just a couple days ago, or yes, I don't know.

But I was like, because he really is such a great actor, I think. And he's, you know, he's got another I don't know. But I was like, because he really is such a great actor, I think, and he's got another show coming out now. So I was like, did you ever take any classes or anything? And he never did. Yeah. He did before the first season of his show,

and just hasn't since then. Yeah, I remember. There was a woman we all worked with in New York. Right, she passed away, right? Oh, did she? Oh, maybe it was, he had a guy guy and then he had the woman. Yeah. What was her name? Caroline Ray used to use her.

All the comedians went to her. Right. To prepare for auditions and stuff. Alice. Alice was her name. There's a lady like that now that like I go to

that Ron Funches goes to. Oh, really? Yes, or Lester. Out here? Yeah, Kurt goes to her. Oh, really? Yeah. Just to get you like a coach.

Yeah. Well, it's good because she knows how to work with comics. Just to get you like a coach. Yeah, well, it's good because she knows how to work with comics. So it's not like all the shit that we would think is lame. You know what I mean? Yeah, because they know that we've already got this skill.

Like we can be in front of people. We can do, you know, we can act because we do an act. Yes. So there's not a lot of that. Being comfortable on camera, you don't have to work through that stuff. It's like the toolbox

of like how to actually like access stuff. It just weird it's weird i can't i like i'm watching myself and glow i'm a little sort of like like i can't like i don't want to talk about how i feel about how i did because i'll let other people experience it but like in my mind like i if we do another season i'm gonna challenge myself a little bit in in ways that people might not even notice but me no but you'll notice it when when you watch yours you can say it like were you like oh I did a good job on glow or were you like no there was definitely scenes where I did a good job but there was moments where I'm like like but then you sort of like is it the cutting is it you know

like sure because that that happens sometimes yeah like there's a there's a you know it wasn't bad but like I i get right back to where i was and i'm like what am i thinking right then there was one one like like maybe 10 seconds on camera where they kind of come in on me and i'm like you know i knew that was what was going to happen like i knew what was supposed to happen there but i wasn't thinking about the right thing now is anyone else going to notice that i I don't know. Well, that's the thing. I can sometimes watch myself and I can remember like, all right, this is how I felt that day.

And I could see that when I see myself. I could see myself knowing what not to do with my hands. But you're the only one who knows that because you were in your body. But the thing is, is a lot of times we do stand up and we're fucked up in our minds,

but we're up there doing it. I know. And you can't tell. No, you can you can't no one knows i have this thing sometimes where like i'll be like riffing or something or there'll be a scene where it's an improv scene yeah and then i'll watch it uh in the two shot or whatever and i'll be like it took me so long to figure out what to say next and then i watch it and you're like oh it doesn't feel like that no yeah and also like you know you got to leave that space like there's a like with me like i do that i just do i do that series with swanberg with joe swanberg uh the easy you know where every year it's a he's going to revisit these characters and i just shot another one and that's all improvised like it's

very loosely outlined so you're just you're just in it and you give me that freedom i'm just gonna like you know just you know and and and from doing my show you know that you don't have to do you know just you know just relax yeah take a pause you know don't you know it's not that's not how people talk but sadly it is sort of the way i talk like i use my hands a lot and i like if you like me being myself on camera you you'd think like, why does he keep using his hands like that? You're literally doing it right now. Yeah, exactly. I do that.

You know, I might see pictures of my hand out like this. And I do this almost every conversation I have in here. What am I doing? I don't know. But I'm doing it. Yeah. It's the way I am. The thing I noticed was because we edited a lot of our movie, too.

So we watched a bunch of takes of everybody. And I edited a lot of our movie too so we watched a bunch of takes of everybody and I watched a lot of takes of myself and the big lesson I learned was like sometimes

just say the fucking line yeah you don't gotta put anything on doing a little zhuzh on it doing a lot of zhuzh even if you're supposed to be sad or whatever

yeah just say it because like when you're actually sad in real life you say stuff you know you're sad, you feel sad, but the line doesn't have to come out

as sounding sad. You're like, making this sound. You don't have to have a big wind-up for the pitch. Just fucking say it. Well, good. See, we're all learning. Thanks, you guys. Thank you. Thank you.

So that worked out. We're all good. the movie's good the big sick go see it uh go to wtfpod.com for all your wtf pod needs i i don't i don't think i'm gonna play guitar it's just like it's not plugged in it's not set up i know it's heartbreaking to a lot of you do i want to play? I don't even know if I have one that has good strings out here. Hold on. Hold on. I'm plugging it straight in to the dirty old man, the 58 Fender Deluxe. And the guitar, the one that I have been keeping from you. The best guitar I've ever played in my life and i've been cagey about it not sharing about it is a gibson uh 56 reissue of a 56 deluxe

gold top with p90s for those of you give give a shit. That's what this is. That's what this sound is. And I had to go back in the house to get my tuner because I used to have two, but Jay Maskis stole my tuner. And if I ever get together with some people to play, which is the plan this summer, I want to play with some people.

I need a combo. I'm looking for a combo out here in Highland Park. I need guys that are good, guys that are better than me. I'll rent the space with no objective other than to play. We'll pick some songs. We'll play them. I don't know how to play with other people really that well because I never have, but I'm reaching out to professional musicians to play for nothing with me for fun.

How can you not want to do that? so Boomer lives! That was loud. Look at those levels. How about now? Boomer lives! Is that better? Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing.

With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis and ACAS Creative. that's innovative, inclusive, and creative. And they're helping put Calgary and our innovation ecosystem on the map as a place where people come to solve

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