WEBVTT
1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:10.720
Callaroga Shark Media been there. I'm Johnny Mack with your
2
00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:13.279
daily comedy news Jim Gaffing. Until the La Times that
3
00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:15.519
stand up has changed so much, to the notion that
4
00:00:15.560 --> 00:00:18.160
people are putting out multiple specials didn't exist when I
5
00:00:18.199 --> 00:00:20.600
started stand up. But I think that people who consume
6
00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:23.600
a stand up comedian's material, there's a familiarity, but it's
7
00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:26.160
like a friendship. You can't have the exact same conversation.
8
00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:27.600
Even though we all have friends where it's like we're
9
00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:29.519
having the same conversation about high school. It has to
10
00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:32.039
be different. You both have to challenge each other. So
11
00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:34.359
for me working on the special or working on this
12
00:00:34.439 --> 00:00:36.719
new hour that I'm working on now, it's self assignment.
13
00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:38.960
So some of it. Any creative person's like, what can
14
00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:41.719
I talk about that is embarrassing or revealing. I think
15
00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:44.039
that people that have tracked me along the way in
16
00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:46.200
my stand up would be interested in my view and parenting.
17
00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:48.159
I've always had the view that I suck at it,
18
00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:50.520
but I have greater empathy for what all parents are
19
00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:52.560
dealing with, and I think also parents of this era,
20
00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:55.000
we've made mistakes and it doesn't help. With social media
21
00:00:55.039 --> 00:00:56.960
and the apps and the screens. And that's something that's
22
00:00:56.960 --> 00:00:58.799
revealed in doing my stand up and in reading some
23
00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:01.840
of the parenting books. Parents of teenagers have this perspective.
24
00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:04.079
Adults have an impression of what their teenage years were like,
25
00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:06.040
and I'm providing this point of view about what it's
26
00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:08.079
like to live with these people. It's kind of a cliche
27
00:01:08.439 --> 00:01:11.079
raising teenagers is like raising a mentally ill person. It
28
00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:13.640
sounds harsh. We know this is a natural separation process
29
00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:16.640
where teenagers challenge things. But I love that I've gained
30
00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:19.519
this perspective of was my data jerkface? Or maybe I
31
00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:22.000
was a jerk face? He used the D word. Maybe
32
00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:24.439
it's kind of basic, but that's something that's universal. We
33
00:01:24.519 --> 00:01:27.280
all went through being teenagers, and not necessarily the conflict,
34
00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:29.920
but the misunderstanding between the teenager and the parent, which
35
00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:33.719
I find fascinating. Jim Jeffreys told Rolling Stone that he
36
00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:37.159
wants to act more. Name dropper Jim said, I texted
37
00:01:37.239 --> 00:01:40.239
Russell Crowe excuse me, and I said, Russell, I've got
38
00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:42.560
an acting job. Can I call you quickly for some tips?
39
00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:45.159
And I think he thought I just wanted acting tips,
40
00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:46.959
and I was asking him more about when you talk
41
00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:49.560
to a director, what do you do here? Is it
42
00:01:49.640 --> 00:01:51.319
too much for me to add a line here or there?
43
00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:53.519
Do you not do that? In trauma? But Russell sent
44
00:01:53.560 --> 00:01:55.519
me a quote from Hamlet and told me to hold
45
00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:57.840
up a mirror to nature and I went, thanks, mate.
46
00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:00.840
Rolling Stone asked him if stand up could take a
47
00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:03.920
back seat to film. Jim said, that's like saying, do
48
00:02:03.959 --> 00:02:06.079
you think you'll have sex with more tractive women? It's
49
00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:09.719
not my decision, is it. They get to make the choice. Now.
50
00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:12.319
Obviously I'm joking, I'm a happily married man. Blah blah
51
00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:14.240
blah blah blah. But you get what I'm saying. It's
52
00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:15.840
up to the movie industry. It's not up to me.
53
00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:18.520
I look at Sammy Davis Junior. I watched a documentary
54
00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:20.560
about him. He was a really good singer, an amazing dancer,
55
00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:23.039
and outstanding impersonator and all that type of stuff. He
56
00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:25.120
was a ball of entertainment, and I'd like to be that.
57
00:02:25.719 --> 00:02:27.840
I like the idea that I can entertain at any time.
58
00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:30.000
So whether it be TV presenting or acting or doing
59
00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:32.159
stand up, I just consider myself to be an entertainer
60
00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:34.719
first and foremost. I don't think I can because of
61
00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:36.240
my voice or whatever. But I'd like to do a
62
00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:38.280
bit of musical theater or something like that. I'd give
63
00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:40.599
that a crack. I'm up for doing everything but juggling
64
00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:44.199
and mime. Anthony Jesson expoke to crack dot com about
65
00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:47.680
his influences Stephen Right, Ronnie Dangershfield, and Mitch Hedberg. They
66
00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:50.080
were curious where he discovered those guys. Anthony said, it
67
00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:51.960
must have been late night TV as a kid, waiting
68
00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:53.919
for those last five minutes of Carson to see who
69
00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:56.120
would show up. I remember watching a lot of end
70
00:02:56.199 --> 00:02:58.400
of Carson's waiting for Letterman to come on. They would
71
00:02:58.439 --> 00:03:00.080
usually have a comic at the end. I'm sure, well,
72
00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:02.319
Stephen writes HBO special at some point, but I must
73
00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:04.840
have been introduced through late night sets Hebburg. I didn't
74
00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:06.599
find out about until i'd been doing comedy for about
75
00:03:06.599 --> 00:03:08.080
a year, but Stephen Wright was the first, and then
76
00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:10.560
Dangerfield was like, oh, I'm into this guy too. But
77
00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:14.120
Stephen Wright to me was huge. Did Jessinic try and mimic,
78
00:03:14.280 --> 00:03:17.520
writs Cadence. He said, no, surprisingly not. You could say
79
00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:19.719
Christopher walk In for sure has had an impact on
80
00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:22.240
how I speak, even though my dad gets the same comparison,
81
00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:25.039
But Stephen Wright was almost too much of a departure
82
00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:27.039
from my character. Maybe there would have been a couple
83
00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:28.599
of years in college when I was smoking too much
84
00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:30.759
pot that I could have had a Hebburg kind of personality.
85
00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:32.800
But I never had that burnout thing either, which just
86
00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:34.800
more of how did they think of? That? Crazy twist?
87
00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:37.520
Never really entered into my persona with my friends in
88
00:03:37.560 --> 00:03:41.599
the beginning. Has the Anthony Justinic character evolved over time,
89
00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:43.639
and he said, I think of the character as an
90
00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:46.919
aging punk rocker. At this point. In the beginning, it
91
00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:49.520
was like, there are no lines. If everybody offend everybody,
92
00:03:49.639 --> 00:03:51.400
let's go. And I'm glad I did that in my
93
00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:54.159
twenties and that helped me out a lot my idols
94
00:03:54.159 --> 00:03:55.759
who have softened as they get older. I find that
95
00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:58.199
to be interesting, and as the world changes, you find
96
00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:00.680
yourself going from the villain of the hero. My past
97
00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:03.199
is my past, then I'll never apologize for it or
98
00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:05.319
try to whitewash it. But I think I've gained a
99
00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:07.560
lot of wisdom, a lot of knowledge and life experience.
100
00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:10.639
I like that I've softened and that the act isn't
101
00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:12.400
as hardcore as it used to be. I think that's good,
102
00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:14.840
and I think that's more interesting. I don't think of
103
00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:17.319
the character evolving, but as I write, I'm reacting to
104
00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:20.240
what's popular around me. If the biggest comics in the
105
00:04:20.279 --> 00:04:22.759
world started getting real family friendly, maybe I would go
106
00:04:22.839 --> 00:04:25.360
darker and would go harder. There's plenty of comics now
107
00:04:25.399 --> 00:04:27.199
that are just as dark and hardcore as I used
108
00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:29.079
to be. It's next part too justting listen to this.
109
00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:31.680
I think they lack my writing talent now. I just
110
00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:33.759
see a lot of culture personality. I think having a
111
00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:36.319
popular podcast is more important than having a good act.
112
00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:39.600
That's how it dies with the podcasting. You don't really
113
00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:41.800
have to do anything other than have a popular podcast
114
00:04:41.879 --> 00:04:43.920
to sell tickets, and you'll have a great show because
115
00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:46.279
the audience loves it, and you're never really testing anything out.
116
00:04:46.839 --> 00:04:48.839
That's why I see all these podcasts put out a special.
117
00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:51.879
They're immediately savage by critics and forgotten about to the
118
00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:53.480
point that people don't even want to write about it,
119
00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:55.240
because there's no point in writing a negative review of
120
00:04:55.279 --> 00:04:58.160
something that's just friends hanging out, which is what comedy's becoming.
121
00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:02.160
He's both not wrong and somewhat wrong. I mean, I
122
00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:07.839
get what he's saying about things having less artistic reaching.
123
00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:11.959
But on the other hand, from the consumer point of view, Hey,
124
00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:14.519
I went out, I saw somebody I dig. I had
125
00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:16.759
a good time and laughed, and I went home hopefully,
126
00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:19.199
and I'm home by ten thirty because I'm old. I
127
00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:21.519
don't think there's anything wrong with that. Not everything has
128
00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:23.800
to be art, and I know I sometimes argue that
129
00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:26.279
both ways, but I don't know. If you go out
130
00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:27.879
and you have a good time, that's fine. Like as
131
00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:29.759
I reviewed these specials, some of them are just fine.
132
00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:32.639
I can be a comedy snob, I admit it. Shang Wang,
133
00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:34.199
I like him a lot. He spoke to The Texas
134
00:05:34.279 --> 00:05:37.199
Standard talked about his friendship with Ali Wang, who executive
135
00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:39.040
produced a special, and said, yeah, she's a friend of mine.
136
00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:40.720
We met in the early days of doing stand up.
137
00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:43.160
We were both in the open mic scene in San
138
00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:45.480
Francisco in the early two thousands, and we've been friends
139
00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:47.920
ever since. I mean we got closer later on. We
140
00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:49.800
both moved to New York together around the same time.
141
00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:51.680
She moved to LA to be a writer, and I
142
00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:53.759
followed her out there, And so I've been sort of
143
00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:56.319
following her footsteps and just kind of following her playbook
144
00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:58.600
in a way, so to speak. I kind of live
145
00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.959
in the ghost of Alley's past. I have her old furniture,
146
00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:03.560
her old couch or old nightstand, and I might even
147
00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:06.160
tape my second special where she taped her second special.
148
00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:08.399
So I'm just kind of following the Alley Wong playbook
149
00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:10.519
in a weird way because it works. But I'm very
150
00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:12.959
grateful for our friendship and for all the sports she's
151
00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:15.399
given me. It's pretty incredible to have a friend like that.
152
00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:17.959
I mean, she's an incredibly talented person, but I think
153
00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:20.240
it's also helpful to have a friend succeed to that
154
00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:22.240
level where you get a sense of like, this is
155
00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:24.639
a friend. This person also kind of looks like me,
156
00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:27.040
she's an Asian American, and just makes it feel a
157
00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:29.720
little bit more accessible, like these things are possible. Of course,
158
00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:35.279
it helps when she produces a direction comedy special. JB.
159
00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:38.720
Smooth as advice for aspiring comics, it is find who
160
00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:42.319
you are, constantly work on your style, matristylity of personality,
161
00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:44.519
say things that only you would say, and talk about
162
00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:46.240
what you know about. Don't be stuck in one place.
163
00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:47.720
It's great to have material, but you don't want to
164
00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:49.199
be a robot. You want to be able to connect
165
00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:51.240
with people. If you can walk on stage and grab
166
00:06:51.319 --> 00:06:53.959
that microphone, you're fifty percent there already fifty percent of
167
00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:55.879
what it takes is to get up there. There's rules,
168
00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:57.839
of course, you gotta have an intro, you gotta have
169
00:06:57.879 --> 00:06:59.600
a presence on stage, you gotta have a certain amount
170
00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:01.199
of last person minute. But you don't have to go
171
00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:03.560
buy those rules. There's something being offbeat and true to
172
00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:05.399
yourself and talking about what you know about, which is
173
00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:08.439
absolutely golden because you're taking people on vacation, on a
174
00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:11.759
trip through your brain. Kevin Nielan said cancel culture has
175
00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:14.480
stifled some comedians. For someone like me, I don't have
176
00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:16.319
a problem with it because I never really ventured in
177
00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:18.199
that area. I may touch on something where someone's like,
178
00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:20.439
hey man, you can't do that, but some people get
179
00:07:20.439 --> 00:07:21.920
away with still. I don't really have a problem with
180
00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:23.759
the woke stuff. Although my wife and son won't come
181
00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:25.839
to see my shows because they're afraid I'll get canceled
182
00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:27.720
and be the last person to get canceled. People won't
183
00:07:27.720 --> 00:07:30.040
even cancel my reservation if I don't show up. I
184
00:07:30.120 --> 00:07:32.319
think a lot of comedians hopefully will evolve, like people
185
00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:35.120
do in their profession or whatever it is, They'll find
186
00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:36.600
better ways of doing it. I always try to be
187
00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:39.480
unique in my voice, because that's what matters, That's how
188
00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:41.759
you stand apart from other comedians. Now that we have
189
00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:44.279
zillions of comedians, it's hard for comedians to become unique
190
00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:46.759
or be unique and also have something original say that
191
00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:49.600
isn't about McDonald's or whatever. A hard reporter I spoke
192
00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:51.839
to Matt Rife who said other comics have told me
193
00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:53.800
they miss not only the pace of stand up, but
194
00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:57.519
the level of control. Do you want to be an actor? Right? Said?
195
00:07:57.639 --> 00:07:59.079
I don't feel like I need control. I'm not a
196
00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:00.600
point now where I want to learn something new. I
197
00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:02.399
want to get better at something else. I mean, I'm
198
00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:04.720
getting so much better, so much faster at stand up,
199
00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:07.040
and I'm learning how to hopefully prepare for a lifetime
200
00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:09.360
of this, And now that I see that that's achievable,
201
00:08:09.399 --> 00:08:11.680
I'm like, Okay, awesome. What are some other skills that
202
00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:13.319
I can sharpen along the way that are only going
203
00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:15.199
to help everything else that I do. The better comedian
204
00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:17.000
I am, the more people are gonna want to watch
205
00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:18.879
the movies that I'm in, and the more movies I'm in,
206
00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:20.759
the more people are gonna want to see what I
207
00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:23.319
do live at a stand up show. Whose career mighty
208
00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:26.839
want to emulate? You have the Big Three Robin Williams,
209
00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:30.480
Jim Carrey, and Adam Sandler. Imagine Matt Riife doing Adam
210
00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:32.879
Sandler type movies. I might have to quit the podcast.
211
00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:34.960
Those are the ones who did best, and I don't
212
00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:37.039
know that anybody will ever do it at that level again,
213
00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:39.679
That's my dream. Comedians who took their fan base into
214
00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:41.559
the theaters with their comedic talents and then they were
215
00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:44.440
able to transition over to different genres, especially dramas. I mean,
216
00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:46.960
my god, Robin Williams A Goodwill Hunting is one of
217
00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:50.000
my favorite acting performances of all time. Ryan Reynolds is
218
00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:51.840
my idol. That's who I'd love to work with more
219
00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:53.879
than anything, and he has this type of acting career
220
00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:55.559
that I'd love to try to emulate, and he's done
221
00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:57.759
everything new top Egg Mett Rife, Who do you see
222
00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:01.519
is your core audience at this point? Young people, older women?
223
00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:03.759
Rife said, it's a mix of everybody, which is so
224
00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:07.080
crazy and so cool. That's a non answer. Nobody has everybody,
225
00:09:07.240 --> 00:09:09.759
most comedians, and this is exactly why you'd asked this question.
226
00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:12.559
I have a relatively specific audience, whether it's a specific
227
00:09:12.679 --> 00:09:15.399
race or gender or age range. But for us, it's
228
00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:19.039
kind of everybody. There's many people in their early twenties
229
00:09:19.080 --> 00:09:21.679
as there are fifty and up, just people who love comedy.
230
00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:23.720
What's on your bucket list? I'd love to do more
231
00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:26.120
movies and TV, and I'd love to work with Ricky Gervais.
232
00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:29.039
Adam Carolla and Jay Leno are getting ready to do
233
00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:32.279
a Comedy Fantasy Camp in La January twenty third through
234
00:09:32.279 --> 00:09:35.720
to twenty sixth. The four day camp offers workshops, Q
235
00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:37.879
and as and panels on all things comedy, from TV
236
00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:42.080
writing and podcasting to performing on stage. The Rap spoke
237
00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:45.519
with them. They pointed out that Adam's from Southern California,
238
00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:48.480
Jay's from Boston. Is there a difference between the comic
239
00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:51.840
sensibilities you know, Southern California vers East Coast? Leto said, no,