WEBVTT
1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:10.359
Caloroga Shark Media. Hi there, I'm Johnny Mack with your
2
00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:13.320
daily comedy. Hears. You're feeling a little heavy after Thanksgiving
3
00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:15.480
and the leftovers, you should lose some weight. Like Jim
4
00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:17.760
Gaffigan who Till the La Times. I wish there was
5
00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:20.519
some romantic story surrounding his weight loss, but it really
6
00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:22.519
came down to my doctor who brought it up. She said,
7
00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:24.760
I know she'd gained a fair amount of weight. In
8
00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:27.039
the nineties. I was working out twice a day to
9
00:00:27.079 --> 00:00:29.359
be thin, and then once I had kids, I was
10
00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:31.280
desperately trying to find time to work out, and then
11
00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:33.000
it got to a point where my kniece didn't work.
12
00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:34.840
So my doctor said, you can try these appetites of
13
00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:37.079
pressents and I'm like, yeah, sure, but I didn't have
14
00:00:37.079 --> 00:00:39.320
an expectation it would work, even when I was working
15
00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:40.840
out twice a day. I have a joke where I
16
00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:42.479
was like, I need to work out a lot just
17
00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:44.240
to look like someone who doesn't work out, and I
18
00:00:44.280 --> 00:00:46.880
was pleasantly surprised when it worked. That joke speaks to
19
00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:50.520
me because I go up and down ten pounds in
20
00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:52.679
like a day, So I'll go out for an eight
21
00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:54.200
mile run. I lose a lot of water weight, and
22
00:00:54.200 --> 00:00:55.479
I'm like, I feel good, and then I come home
23
00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:57.240
and have you know, three cookies, and then I'm back
24
00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:00.560
up ten pounds. My body's crazy like that. But even
25
00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:03.159
when I'm in marathon shape, I will say to people,
26
00:01:03.240 --> 00:01:05.959
I have to work really hard to look this fat. Like,
27
00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:07.519
if you ever see me walking around it, I don't
28
00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:10.000
one hundred and sixty pounds. You might start wondering who's
29
00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:12.560
going to take over this podcast after me, which is
30
00:01:12.599 --> 00:01:14.879
a good question. Hopefully we have another fifty years before
31
00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:17.439
we have to consider that one. Ronnie Ching has spoke
32
00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:19.359
to the Wall Street Journal, thank you, friend of the show,
33
00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:22.239
Scott Beckett for setting this one over. Ronnie said his
34
00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:25.400
first exposure to American comedy was watching Jerry Seinfeld's stand
35
00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:28.640
up intervals on Seinfeld back in Singapore, I watched Late
36
00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:30.640
Show with David Letterman on TV and the comics who
37
00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:32.680
came on his show. Initially, I didn't think I could
38
00:01:32.680 --> 00:01:35.400
do what they did. I watched because stand up looked interesting.
39
00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:37.680
Comedians would walk on stage, talk to the audience, make
40
00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:40.519
jokes and people laughed. He wound up living in Australia
41
00:01:40.519 --> 00:01:41.879
and said it took me two months to get a
42
00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:44.560
handle on the Melbourne comedy scene. Performing in English wasn't
43
00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:47.239
a problem during our Manchester years. My parents spoke to
44
00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:49.120
me in English, so it was my first language. As
45
00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:51.560
for my delivery, that's a matter of developing the skill
46
00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:53.879
set and listening for the rhythm, the timing, the attitude,
47
00:01:53.879 --> 00:01:56.280
when to pause and so on. That came gig after gig.
48
00:01:56.599 --> 00:01:58.799
In twenty thirteen, Trevor Noah and I were on a
49
00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:01.519
bill at Just for Laughs. In myal I already knew
50
00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:03.879
him from the festival a year earlier. Two years later
51
00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:06.480
I received an email inviting me to audition for The
52
00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:09.159
Daily Show, which Trevor had started hosting. I planned to
53
00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:11.879
move to New York anyway. Going from Australia to the
54
00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:14.120
Daily Show was such a step up. I have Trevor
55
00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:16.439
to thank, as well as John Oliver, who gave me guidance.
56
00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:19.199
Adam Ray was asked what was the re action from Doctor
57
00:02:19.240 --> 00:02:21.520
Phil's camp when he found out about your show. If
58
00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:24.280
you haven't watched Adam Ray on Netflix, it is very funny.
59
00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:26.159
Adam said, I've been doing the show a little over
60
00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:28.360
a year and had never met him. His son reached
61
00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:30.560
out to me on Instagram was like, we've got to
62
00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:32.080
get my dad on your show. We got in touch
63
00:02:32.120 --> 00:02:33.800
with his publiciste and went back and forth for like
64
00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:36.800
six or seven months. Yeah, I've been there, done that.
65
00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:39.439
That's annoying. I'd almost given up, but then I was like, okay,
66
00:02:39.719 --> 00:02:42.639
here's three more dates. They said, September eighteenth works. I
67
00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:45.280
FaceTime with Phil maybe an hour before makeup, just talk
68
00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:47.680
through what the show would look like. Then we locked
69
00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:50.159
up everyone's phones. No one knew and Phil was awesome.
70
00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:52.199
The grad went nuts, and the whole show was great.
71
00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:54.159
I asked him if he was online, and he was like,
72
00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:55.719
that's how I found you. My son was like, you
73
00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:58.199
got to see this, and I'll admit it's hysterical. He
74
00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:00.039
gave me some nice flowers during the show, but he
75
00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:02.319
also told me backstage, you would have known a long
76
00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:05.599
time ago if I wasn't cool with this little thread there. Wow.
77
00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:08.199
I think he and his fans know that my intentions
78
00:03:08.199 --> 00:03:09.960
are pure with the character, and it's also made him
79
00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:12.120
popular in a space that he might otherwise not be.
80
00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:14.080
And I think he's got to be enjoying this extra
81
00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:16.719
pump of recognition right. He was also asked what would
82
00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:18.680
it be like if Doctor Phil went on tour, is
83
00:03:18.680 --> 00:03:21.599
Adam Ray Now that's funny? Adam said, I don't know
84
00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:23.000
if he has the cavs for it, but I'm sure
85
00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:25.000
he can get the voice down. I'd watch it more
86
00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:27.199
from that big piece. On Crack to dot Com with
87
00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:30.439
Anthony Jessel Nick, Jessa Nick talked about not getting along
88
00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:33.280
with Norm MacDonald on Last Comic Standing and said it
89
00:03:33.319 --> 00:03:35.520
was anger, but it wasn't anger that we're not jelling.
90
00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:38.680
It's Norm's a difficult person. I'm a difficult person. It's
91
00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:41.599
not crazy that we're not chilling. Honestly, it's almost an honor.
92
00:03:41.639 --> 00:03:44.599
It's like someone telling you you remind him of your dad.
93
00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:46.439
But Norman and I were both very angry that we
94
00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:47.960
took the job. We were mad that we had to
95
00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:49.319
be there for the amount of time we had to
96
00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:51.639
be there. We thought we were getting into something else, and
97
00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:53.840
so for those eight episodes we weren't mad at each other.
98
00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:55.919
We were just mad, and when we butted heads it
99
00:03:55.960 --> 00:03:58.000
was a lot. We both wish we had gone back
100
00:03:58.039 --> 00:04:01.960
and not taken that job. I think everybody hates Last
101
00:04:01.960 --> 00:04:06.280
Comic Standing. I used to hate it because, you know,
102
00:04:06.360 --> 00:04:09.680
at serious I was the comedy expert, and people would
103
00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:12.039
come in and be like, to watch Last Comic Standing,
104
00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:13.400
Do you see so and so? And I'm like, yes,
105
00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:16.000
so and so is hysterical for forty seconds. I understand
106
00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:18.560
why you think so and so is hysterical for forty seconds.
107
00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:21.439
And then I would illustrate even stupid Johnny Mack can
108
00:04:21.480 --> 00:04:25.560
be hysterical for forty seconds by saying something outrageous. The
109
00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:28.000
example I used to use is a line I later
110
00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:31.199
heard Dave Chappelle say, and I later heard President Trump say.
111
00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:33.759
I would say something so out of character for me,
112
00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:37.279
so vulgar, that people would be so shocked and laughed,
113
00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:38.879
and I'd be like yeah, and I would point out
114
00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:40.759
I didn't even tell a joke there. I just said
115
00:04:40.759 --> 00:04:43.560
something shocking and you laughed at it. Anyway, Last Comic
116
00:04:43.639 --> 00:04:46.920
Standing nobody liked that show. Cracked asked Anthony, what makes
117
00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:48.920
you a difficult person. He said, I'm not the friendliest.
118
00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:50.800
You can work with me and think he was totally professional.
119
00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:52.480
He was great, but I don't really have a sense
120
00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:54.120
of who he is. We didn't really hang out. I'm
121
00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:56.319
not trying to bond with everybody. Let's just be professional
122
00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:58.480
and do our jobs. People on the road with me
123
00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:00.600
are like, he's professionally, he does his jock. We don't
124
00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:03.279
hang out much, but I'm not mean. Norm wasn't mean.
125
00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:05.879
It was just aloof And when you're trying to go
126
00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:08.079
and connect with that becomes difficult. When the two of
127
00:05:08.199 --> 00:05:10.000
us going back and forth on stage. I was looking
128
00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:12.319
forward it and he was not, and that was difficult.
129
00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:14.879
Why don't you want to hang out? Dan Denny? There's
130
00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:16.920
a lot of comedians who said is the least important
131
00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:18.959
thing of their night. It's the hangout. It's who you're
132
00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:21.360
gonna see. We're gonna go to this other club. Watch
133
00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:23.120
someone else said, I'm not doing that. I'm never gonna
134
00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:24.519
do that. I'm like, I'm gonna do my work and
135
00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:26.360
go home. That's the job to be. The fun part
136
00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:28.439
is the writing. Even before I stopped drinking, I was
137
00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:29.800
never a go out person. I don't want to meet
138
00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:31.079
people after the show. I want to get back to
139
00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:33.680
my room, relax, read a book. That's the job. Would
140
00:05:33.720 --> 00:05:36.040
he ever just become a writer? He said, I love
141
00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:39.680
being up there. Obviously there's an adrenaline that comes from that. Also,
142
00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:42.279
these are my jokes. Most people wouldn't tell them not
143
00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:43.920
just wouldn't tell them the way I tell them, They
144
00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:46.319
wouldn't tell them at all. Early in my career, if
145
00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:48.240
Sarah Silverman had said, I want to buy you for life,
146
00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:50.120
just write jokes for me, I would have happily done
147
00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:51.879
that watching her tell my jokes. If I thought a
148
00:05:51.959 --> 00:05:54.600
joke was great, Sarah Silverman always thought it was great.
149
00:05:54.839 --> 00:05:56.519
Jimmy Kimmel always thought it was great and did his
150
00:05:56.519 --> 00:05:58.000
best to do it. I would have been happy writing
151
00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:00.800
for them for a while. Anyway, was in my twenties
152
00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:02.279
when I wrote for them jokes here and there, but
153
00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:04.600
I enjoyed that. When you get into Jimmy Falln, it's
154
00:06:04.600 --> 00:06:06.519
not a knocking a inint Jimmy Faun. But Jimmy Fallon
155
00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:08.600
couldn't tell my jokes. He wouldn't have the job he
156
00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:10.800
has today if he told any of them. The editor
157
00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:13.079
points out. Jessainnick was hired to write on Late Night
158
00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:16.160
with Jimmy Foun in two thousand and nine. Someone says,
159
00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:18.480
I hate the travel, I hate the sound check, but
160
00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:20.360
I love being on stage with a thousand people were
161
00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:22.839
there to communally laugh at this darkness. That's something that
162
00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:24.680
I've grown into and I wouldn't want to give it up.
163
00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:28.720
NBR spoke to DJ Dimmers. He has hearing loss and
164
00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:30.639
says he doesn't want to be the hearing aid guy
165
00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:33.519
to reach others in the deaf community. DJ Demmers is
166
00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:36.879
often joined on stage by a sign language interpreter, Jennifer Lees,
167
00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:39.720
has interpreted many of his shows. DJ says without his
168
00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:42.079
hearing aids, he's considered deaf when he takes them out
169
00:06:42.120 --> 00:06:44.600
to sleep at sketchy hotels, he jokes, I'm very easy
170
00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:47.800
to murder, and since hearing aids aren't waterproof, pool parties
171
00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:50.040
are a nightmare, and I'm not very good at marco polo.
172
00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:52.920
This is funny. He's a new dad. People warn him
173
00:06:52.920 --> 00:06:54.600
to be ready for a lot of sleepless nights and
174
00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:57.279
he jokes, it's been pretty chilled. Loved eltmore, but got
175
00:06:57.319 --> 00:07:01.199
this damn disability, you know. Interpreter Jennifer said, I've seen
176
00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:03.680
concerts with interpreters from music, and I've seen lots of
177
00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:06.240
spoken word stuff, but comedy definitely there was a gap
178
00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:08.160
there for deaf and hard of hearing consumers who just
179
00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:09.680
want to be able to go out to yuk yuks
180
00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:11.439
in one of the other comedy chains. And have some fun.
181
00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:13.839
Nobody's ever talked about hearing loss in a funny way,
182
00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:16.000
you know, people very rarely talk about it at all,
183
00:07:16.040 --> 00:07:18.279
never mind with an incredible insight into how awkward and
184
00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:21.319
strange communication can be. Demer said, if I really leaned
185
00:07:21.319 --> 00:07:24.519
into being the hearing aid guy, I could capture that market.
186
00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:26.439
But at what cost? I have to explore more beyond
187
00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:30.399
it just to be artistically fulfilled, all right. The folks
188
00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:33.480
over at late night are noticed during a broadcast of
189
00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:37.360
aew Dynamite Wrestling on TBS that somebody was holding a
190
00:07:37.399 --> 00:07:41.199
sign that said bring Tunsis back for SNL fifty. You
191
00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:44.240
may recall the sketch on SNL tune Sis the cat
192
00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:46.800
who could drive a car. It was the same joke
193
00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:50.439
over and over, never not hilarious. Tunsis Spoilers was a
194
00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:53.720
cat who could drive a car? You've had thirty years spoilers.
195
00:07:54.279 --> 00:07:55.839
At the end of every sketch we would learn that
196
00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:57.920
the cat cannot drive very well and the car would
197
00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:00.920
always crash. They would use the same piece of footage
198
00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:20.759
every time. Look on the driving reached the hurtles. The
199
00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:23.920
dude with the sign is Jose Echeveria. He said, I
200
00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:26.000
see a lot of pop culture signs about yesteryear at
201
00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:29.439
aw shows. We haven't seen Tunsus on SNL since ninety three,
202
00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:31.519
so I felt Tunsis was the way to go. I
203
00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:33.720
thought about making a Simpsons reference, which I've done in
204
00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:35.879
the past at a w W B Rass show. But
205
00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:38.200
a year ago I saw somebody on social media repost
206
00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:42.200
a Tunsa's Giff Jiff. I say, Giff, send me a letter,
207
00:08:42.440 --> 00:08:45.279
and that's what got the juices flowing you Jiff. People
208
00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:47.399
are insane. It's a hard g look at the word.
209
00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:51.960
Robert Smigel recently said on Mark Malkoff's Late Night Or podcast,
210
00:08:51.960 --> 00:08:54.840
a Fantastic podcast, Michael said, I have to admit I
211
00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:57.200
was obsessed with Tunss. I was obsessed with particularly the
212
00:08:57.279 --> 00:08:59.679
opening credits where they used the live cat and they
213
00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:01.720
had the two arms operating the steering wheel. I mean,
214
00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:05.039
I've never seen that done before. Eagle Wit is one
215
00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:08.399
of Vulture's comedians. You should and will know Wor Showever,
216
00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:10.519
I did a show at Jamaican restaurant where they would
217
00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:12.519
pay us in food. I've done it a few times
218
00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:15.440
and it was always a somewhat impossible show. This particular
219
00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:17.399
night was so bad. They gave us food and money
220
00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:19.440
because they felt bad about how rough the show was.
221
00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:23.039
Biggest financial hurdle you've encountered since being a comedian. We
222
00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:26.279
used to get dollar slices in between open mics, and
223
00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:28.759
a fellow comedian would put hot sauce on the slices
224
00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:31.639
because it was almost like getting a Pepperoni slice, but
225
00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:33.960
didn't cost pepperoni money. He was right. I used to
226
00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:36.440
go home every night and eat ramen with canned peas
227
00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:39.759
and tuna, sometimes corn. What comedy hill? Will you die? On?
228
00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:42.000
Social media is good for the business side of comedy,
229
00:09:42.039 --> 00:09:44.480
but terrible for the art of comedy. And I'm not
230
00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:46.159
just talking about the crowd work thing. I don't believe
231
00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:48.679
material gets enough time to develop In this sprint era
232
00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:52.240
of comedy. Quality over quantity used to matter. Bring that
233
00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:54.159
back when it comes to audiences. I don't think they
234
00:09:54.200 --> 00:09:55.879
have to change the thing. I think them being more
235
00:09:55.919 --> 00:09:59.320
sensitive will just make the best comedians smarter writers. I'm
236
00:09:59.320 --> 00:10:01.399
happy they're more sensitive. It brings out the best in me.
237
00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:04.080
I can't be lazy with my pen. Best comedy advice,
238
00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:07.120
worst comedy advice. Best. Derek Gaines told me to never
239
00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:08.639
play to the back of the room. A lot of
240
00:10:08.679 --> 00:10:10.879
comics try to make the other comics laugh focus on
241
00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:13.440
the crowd. Sam Jay told me, if my only source
242
00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:15.360
of income is stand up, I won't let myself take
243
00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:17.399
the type of risks I would take if it wasn't